Super Bowl, History of Ads, and Why Curling Rocks

Everything we learned about the Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is the National Football League’s championship game, played annually in early February between the league’s two conference champions. Created as part of the 1966 merger between the American Football League and the National Football League, it has become the most-watched sporting event in the US each year (watch history).

While the Super Bowl has produced some of the most famous moments in American sports history, its influence extends far beyond the field. As the most-watched television broadcast of the year, it has transformed advertising into a cultural spectacle, with 30-second commercial spots now selling for roughly $8M. The halftime show has evolved from modest marching band performances into one of the year’s major music and artist events. Meanwhile, Americans spend more than $500M annually on snacks and drinks as millions gather for watch parties.

Today, the Super Bowl is a global cultural event, with the game broadcast in more than 180 countries in dozens of languages. In the US, Super Bowl Sunday is considered an unofficial national holiday, blending entertainment, commerce, gambling, food, and sports into one shared cultural moment.

... Read what else we learned about the Super Bowl here.

Also, check out ... 

> In the 1990s, the Buffalo Bills lost four consecutive Super Bowls. (Watch)

> Michael Jackson’s 1993 Super Bowl halftime performance prompted the NFL to extend the break. (Watch)

> Legal betting on this year's game is expected to reach $1.76B (Read)

> The Super Bowl's most iconic ads in history. (Explore)

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How Budweiser became the "king of beers"

Perhaps best known for its Super Bowl Clydesdale ads (watch them on the farm), Budweiser is among the world’s most popular beer brands. It was among the first beers to achieve national distribution in the late 19th century, thanks to its revolutionary refrigeration and pasteurization techniques, setting the stage for the modern US beer industry.

Founded in the 1850s as the “Bavarian Brewery,” the company was acquired in 1860 by Eberhard Anheuser. He sold half of it to his son-in-law, Adolphus Busch, in 1869, forming the partnership that would become Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis, Missouri.

In the 1870s, Carl Conrad, a St. Louis distributor, traveled through a town in Bohemia (the Czech Republic today) called “Budweis” and drank a pale lager. Upon returning home, he worked with Anheuser-Busch to brew its own light lager, marketing it under the name “Budweiser.” The beer became Anheuser-Busch’s first national flagship product, but its origin story led to one of the longest-running trademark disputes in modern commercial history.

Historically, Budweiser has been among the Super Bowl’s biggest ad spenders. Its Clydesdales have appeared in 47 Super Bowl commercials over the years—Anheuser-Busch has spent an estimated $529M on Super Bowl spots over the past five decades.

... Read our full explainer on Budweiser here. (This page was first featured in our weekly Business & Finance newsletter Thursday. To receive our newest breakdowns of key topics in the business world, sign up here.) 

Also, check out ... 

> See this year's Budweiser Super Bowl ad. (Watch)

> Every brand that Budweiser parent company AB InBev owns, visualized. (View)

> Budweiser temporarily changed its name to "America" in 2016. (Read)

> Budweiser still uses the same yeast lineage derived from the one used in the 1800s. (Watch)

How advertising works

Advertising is a global industry centered around the paid promotion of products or services. It’s also a significant contributor to US GDP, with some estimates claiming it indirectly powers roughly 20% of US annual economic output (total ad spend surpassed $1T in 2024). The average American is exposed to roughly 5,000 ad impressions per day.

Early advertisements date back to ancient Egyptian papyrus scrolls from about 5,000 years ago. Historically, marketers have run ads on their era's most popular platforms, like radios in 1922, TV in 1941, and the internet in 1994. While ads help make lots of media free or inexpensive, the industry often employs psychological tactics designed to create a desire for products, leading to scrutiny over manipulative techniques. (See banned deceptive practices.)

As of 2025, roughly two-thirds of all US ad spend went to just five platforms: Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, and TikTok (see chart). In recent years, the advertising industry—which is made up of a complex ecosystem of ad agencies, platforms, and other companies—has faced challenges surrounding data privacy, consumer trust, and the impact of artificial intelligence on creativity.

... Read our full write-up on the advertising industry here.

Also, check out ... 

> How advertising, despite its reputation, enables a lot of free stuff. (Read)

> Advertisers have long leaned into the symbolic value of items for sales. (Read)

> Many advertisers use digital "cookies"—how do they work? (Watch)
> The business approach driving America's 350,000 billboards. (Listen)

In partnership with RAD Intel

The Next Great Ad Intelligence Platform

RAD Intel is still private, even after 5,000%+ valuation growth in about 4 years. The company recently secured its Nasdaq ticker, $RADI, presenting a rare window to get in while private. 

Sales doubled in 2025, with multiple 7-figure contracts locked in for 2026 — and it’s only January. Shares remain available at $0.85 in an SEC-qualified Reg A+ offering, subject to availability. Invest now at $0.85/share.*

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Best of the Week

We added 394 resources this week to our knowledge collective—here are some of our favorites.

Checking in on who is in the trillion-dollar club (now that Walmart has become its first traditional retailer). (Read)

A reporter documents the pros and cons of Elon Musk's build-out in Bastrop County, Texas. (Watch)

There's an electric pipe organ playing continuously until the year 2640. (Read)

Langston Hughes' "I, Too" is a response to poet Walt Whitman. (Read)

Why freshly made tires have bright colored lines. (Watch)

Roughly half of the world's nations are (relatively young) electoral democracies. (Visualize)

Exploring the rich details of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel. (Watch)

People who can't perceive mental images have "aphantasia"—and it doesn't appear to alter any behaviors. (Read)

Photos of Olympians visiting with US presidents. (View)

Fish forks, microplane zesters, and more: key kitchen tools chefs say are underrated. (Read)

Why are there tiny holes in airplane windows? (Read)

The fascinating case for the Winter Olympics' oddest sport: curling. (Watch)

Why some US cities pay thousands of dollars for a single public trash can. (Read)

What should folks do after GLP-1 medications help shed the weight? (Read)

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Historybook: Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots (1587); French author Jules Verne born (1828); Boy Scouts of America is founded (1910); Hollywood legend Lana Turner born (1921); Actor James Dean born (1931); Hollywood Walk of Fame breaks ground (1960); Nasdaq Stock Market index holds first trading day (1971).