Super Bowl Sunday brings a high-stakes playground for advertisers, offering them a chance to check the pulse of the ad world. It’s the closest thing marketers have to a crystal ball, providing glimpses into the strategies, themes and platforms that will define the year ahead. And while this year’s ads featured a disturbing recurrence of what can cheekily be described as body horror, such as Coffee mate’s disembodied tongue, flying anthropomorphous facial hair from both Pringles and Little Caesars, and, most disturbingly, Tubi’s literal hat heads, they hinted at deeper shifts in how consumers are thinking and feeling—and how marketers are spending their ad dollars accordingly.

Rob Hersey, UM

“With the price of a 30-second spot reaching an all-time high, advertisers are inventing new ways to get people thinking about their brand beyond the ad,” said Rob Hersey, global chief creative officer at UM, referencing Rocket’s anthemic spot, Angel Soft’s “potty-tunity” and Uber Eats’ foodie-football conspiracy campaign, whose IRL stunt saw a “renamed” Super Caesars Salad Dome. “The more expensive it becomes to buy attention, the more advertisers will need to find ways to steal more mental airtime.”

Read more in Ad Age.