The Creator Economy Came to Play- Literally

For decades, the Super Bowl has been advertising’s most expensive stage. A single 30-second commercial during the broadcast can cost upwards of $7 million. Historically, brands treated that slot as the pinnacle of cultural visibility: a one-shot moment to dominate national attention.

This year’s Super Bowl however, was different. Apart from the pivotal cultural moment with Bad Bunny’s halftime performance, the distribution of the sporting event didn’t just stop at the broadcast itself. Its expansion into ‘creator suites,’ Instagram Stories, TikTok recaps, and behind-the scenes vlogs, stationed the Super Bowl into becoming something that wasn’t just aired, but a moment that circulated every single platform.

According to reporting from Digiday, this year’s event functioned less like a traditional advertising showcase and more like a large-scale “brand trip,” with creators embedded into activations throughout Super Bowl week. Agencies structured partnerships that extended beyond a single post or appearance. Creators were integrated into the campaign ecosystem itself, producing content before, during, and after the game blurring the lines between traditional advertising and creator-led storytelling.

From Commercial to Creator Ecosystem

Commercials are no longer the product. They have become the anchor.

Brands are increasingly designing campaigns that assume audiences will engage across multiple screens, not just one. A viewer may see a Super Bowl ad on television, but they may also be scrolling through reactions on TikTok, watching breakdowns on YouTube, and reposting clips all within the same time frame.

Take DoorDash for example. Rather than relying solely on a singular broadcast moment, the brand leaned into a social-first strategy. The ad incorporated insider humor and culturally fluent references, positioning itself to blend naturally into digital feeds instead of feeling like a traditional interruption.

That strategy generated more than 40 million views across Instagram and TikTok, but more importantly, it demonstrated the shift that brands that want to stay ahead must design for real-time conversation and creator-led distribution from the outset.

Creator-Led Campaigns Took Center Stage

One of the clearest signals of this shift came from Tree Hut. Instead of relying on traditional celebrity talent for its Super Bowl debut, the brand featured influencers from its own community.

As reported by PR Newswire, the campaign was centered around creators who already had credibility and built-in audiences. The result wasn’t just a commercial, but instead a distributed campaign powered by multiple creators who extended the brand’s message across their platforms.

Rather than spending exclusively on star recognition, Tree Hut showcased one of the largest stages in the world, that they are committed to honor the source in which their equity comes from.

What This Signals About the Creator Economy

The most important takeaway isn’t that creators were present. It’s that they were structurally integrated.

At one of the most traditional and high-cost advertising events in the world, creators were positioned not as optional add-ons, but as distribution infrastructure signaling maturity for the creator economy.

Major cultural tentpoles are now designed with creator amplification in mind from day one. The economics of attention have changed and brands are now paying for narrative extension rather than airtime.

The Super Bowl used to be the pinnacle of broadcast dominance. Now it operates as a multi-platform content engine with creators embedded into it.