Not all tentpole events are created equal. In Canada, two of the biggest global viewing moments - the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympic Games - demand fundamentally different media and creative strategies. And when budgets are under pressure, that difference can determine where dollars go.
This year presents a conundrum for Canadian brands. The 2026 Winter Games in Italy begin just two days before Super Bowl LX, when the Seattle Seahawks take on the New England Patriots. Where do you put your ad dollars? Should you bank on the guaranteed one-off audience which football’s grand finale brings, or spend your budget more evenly across the Olympics, where viewing numbers are also huge - but spread-out over a number of weeks?
The Super Bowl is the ultimate one-night spike: one game, one window, one cultural moment that either lands… or disappears by Monday morning. In 2025, the Super Bowl averaged 8.5 million Canadian viewers and peaked at 9.6 million, with 16.6 million Canadians watching some or all of the game. That’s enormous reach. But it’s compressed into a single night, making both the media buy and the creative feel high-stakes.
This is why more and more brands are extending their Super Bowl campaigns weeks ahead of the big game. It’s now commonplace for video “teasers” to drop ahead of the main spot landing, priming audiences for the big moment and extending the lifecycle and impact of a campaign.
Some of this year’s examples include Emma Stone’s collaboration with Squarespace, the Bosch spot which suggests an impending buzzcut for Guy Fieri (see below), or Ben Stiller and Benson Boone’s fun teaser for Instacart. It’s all about getting people to tune-in to the broadcast and see the rest of the story unfold.
It’s also a moment where tone matters. Super Bowl advertising has evolved into a spectacle of its own. They are often zany, humorous, celebrity-driven, and built to surprise. These ads are designed to entertain instantly, spark conversation, and stand out in a crowded, high-energy environment. For Canadian brands activating around the game, that often means leaning into cultural commentary, humour, or real-time relevance rather than deeper storytelling.
So far, very few pure Canadian brands have launched any fully-fledged Super Bowl campaigns. Lays - which has Canadian supply chain roots - launched a six-second teaser which gave very little away. Last year, Tim Horton’s did run a campaign which leant into Canadian pride, but there’s no sign of a return in 2026 - so far - with the brand seemingly focused on Team Canada at the Olympics.
And this offers a fundamentally different creative and strategic canvas. Instead of a single spike, brands get weeks of evolving narratives and recurring appointment viewing. During Beijing 2022, 26.5 million Canadians - that’s roughly 70% of the population - watched at least some Olympic coverage, with the most-watched day reaching 14.5 million viewers.
That duration shapes tone as much as tactics. Olympic advertising tends to be more earnest, emotional, and purpose-driven. It’s rooted in perseverance, national pride, and human achievement. With time to build frequency and context, brands can tell longer stories, adapt creative as momentum builds, and align more closely with moments that resonate deeply with Canadian audiences. The Olympics are one of the few moments where Canadian brands can feel central to the story, not adjacent to a U.S. spectacle.
None of this means Canadian brands will abandon the Super Bowl outright, even if they don’t seem to be rushing to the event this year and instead focusing on the home market with the Winter Games. Its cultural relevance remains undeniable. But as advertisers balance impact with efficiency - and humour with meaning - many are reassessing where sustained relevance matters more than a single flash of attention.
In today’s media landscape, the question isn’t which event is bigger. It’s which format and tone best matches a brand’s goals. One night can create a moment. Two weeks can build one.
