Feels Like ‘Corporate Phantom Menace,’ Disney+ Super Bowl Ad Went for Nostalgia but Instead Felt Stiff

The NFL put on the year’s biggest event this weekend, as an estimated 150 million Americans watched Super Bowl LIX. While the game did not live up to the hype, with the Philadelphia Eagles blowing out the Kansas City Chiefs, the Super Bowl is more about the spectacle of the day than the game.

🏈 @Eagles star @JalenHurts and his team just won the #SuperBowl! What is he going to do next? You guessed it – celebrate at #WaltDisneyWorld! #SBLIX 🏈 pic.twitter.com/xtvSvKVzP3

— Walt Disney World (@WaltDisneyWorld) February 10, 2025

With such a massive audience pulling together a diverse crowd, it’s impossible for everyone to be completely tuned into the actual game. Instead, many watch for the show surrounding the Super Bowl rather than what happens on the field.

Millions tuned in to watch Kendrick Lamar at halftime or the Manning Brothers fight it out in the Kick of Destiny, but the biggest draw for non-football fans is the commercials.

Each 30-second spot cost an estimated $8 million, and Disney gobbled up a few of them. Disney used the big game to drop a new Thunderbolts (2025) trailer and have Stitch cause chaos on a football field.

Disney’s biggest ad came at the end of the night when Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts announced that after winning the big game, he was “going to Disney World.” 

However, Disney also dropped one of the most confusing and maligned Super Bowl ads with the Disney+ “What if…?” ad. The ad featured clips from Return of the Jedi (1983), Inside Out (2015), The Bear, The Lion King (2019), The Simpsons, The Avengers (2012), Frozen (2013), and Only Murders in the Building, asking what would happen if these stories didn’t exist?

Rather than highlighting Disney stories, which rely heavily on nostalgia, Disney+ chose to mainly highlight its acquisitions to remind audiences of what the company bought rather than what it created.

Doug Kamp, CCO of Mower, an advertising, marketing, and PR agency, told ADWEEK:

On the one hand, I have very fond memories of Disney movies and theme park experiences that truly elevated my imagination. On the other hand, I’m struck by the opportunistic narrative of this commercial, as many of the properties were acquired and/or extended by Disney.

The latter gave me a strong visceral reaction similar to the heavy hand many corporations take post-acquisition by extending a brand without the “magic” that made it initially so appealing. While conceptually, “What If” may tap into the wonder of Disney, the repetitious drumbeat of the copy made “What If” feel more like a corporate phantom menace.

Disney has plenty of its own stories, but the company chose not to include those in the ad. Frazen and The Lion King were the only Disney productions included in the ad. However, it was the live-action version of The Lion King. 

Rather than highlight Walt’s legacy and the nostalgia behind it, Disney showed the audience what it has been able to buy.