2026 Super Bowl ads reflected more racial diversity than last year, but celebrity talent in the ads was still primarily white. LGBTQ representation also dropped in this year’s crop of Big Game ads.
A majority of national Super Bowl spots (68%) visibly represented multiple racial or ethnic groups, according to an analysis from market research firm Zappi. The firm tallied ads that showed two or more clearly distinct racial or ethnic groups onscreen—not in the background—for a total of at least three seconds.
That percentage was up from last year, when just 57% of the ads represented multiple racial or ethnic groups. In 2024, 70% of ads represented multiple racial or ethnic groups.
More ads built multicultural representation into the story
Multicultural narratives were also better represented in Super Bowl 60 ads compared to the last two years, according to Zappi. The firm measured how many of the ads depicted a character from a historically underrepresented group who was speaking, driving the story action, or visually centered for at least a quarter of the ad.
Twenty-six percent of Super Bowl spots depicted multicultural representation as central to the narrative this year, up from 6% in 2025.
Zappi’s analysis found better diversity boosts ad effectiveness. Ads that focused on representation—like Dove, Rocket, NFL, Volkswagen, Toyota, and Novo Nordisk—scored 8% above average in terms of sales impact, the firm said.
But when it comes to celebrity talent, most brands are still casting white celebrities. Of the 103 celebrities who appeared in Super Bowl ads this year, at least 60 of them were white, according to ADWEEK’s count.
LGBTQ+ representation falls, again
On a separate diversity metric, GLAAD published a list of ads starring LGBTQ talent, which dropped for the second year in a row. Just five spots in the Big Game explicitly featured LGBTQ people, the advocacy group reported, all of whom are out celebrities.
Those ads were Levi’s, Nerds, Pokémon, Ritz, and State Farm. GLAAD noted 2026 was the third straight year without transgender representation in a national Super Bowl ad.
