--- title: Hims: a super bowl ad campaign, broken down and benchmarked | RGM® url: https://realgrowthmatters.com/learn/case-studies/hims-super-bowl-ad-campaign/ updated: 2026-06-10 source_html: https://realgrowthmatters.com/learn/case-studies/hims-super-bowl-ad-campaign/ --- - **Story:** Here the super bowl ad campaign type is examined with Hims as the concrete reference point. - **Why it matters:** The value of a super bowl ad campaign comes from rigour: clear targets, real benchmarks, built-in measurement. - **Takeaway:** Most super bowl ad-campaign failures are planning failures, not creative failures. - **Takeaway:** The mechanics of a super bowl ad campaign transfer to any brand in its category. - **Takeaway:** For Hims, reach is an input; incremental lift against a baseline is the real measure. ## How a super bowl ad campaign plays out for Hims S Situation Where it starts A super bowl ad campaign is a concentrated chance to move the Hims business in its category, with a short window and high stakes. T Task What had to happen Turn attention into measurable demand for Hims: plan the mechanics, set targets against category benchmarks, and build in the measurement. A Action The execution The buy is the smaller cost. A 30-second slot ran near $8 million for Super Bowl LIX. Total campaign cost — creative, production, talent, surrounding media — commonly reaches $15-30 million. For Hims, this is the anchor of the plan. R Result How it is judged On incremental lift against a baseline for Hims, not reach and not impressions. That is the honest scoreboard for a super bowl ad campaign. ## The math behind a Hims super bowl ad campaign $0M Category figure relevant to Hims A 30-second Super Bowl LIX spot cost advertisers close to $8 million in 2025 Source: [CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-much-do-2025-super-bowl-commercials-cost-heres-the-price-tag-on-ads-this-year/) 0M What the public data tells a Hims team Super Bowl LIX drew about 127.7 million average viewers Source: [Nielsen](https://www.nielsen.com/news-center/2025/super-bowl-lix-makes-tv-history-with-over-127-million-viewers/) Linked A planning anchor for Hims Every figure on this page links to its publisher. Source: [CBS News — 2025 Super Bowl ad costs](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-much-do-2025-super-bowl-commercials-cost-heres-the-price-tag-on-ads-this-year/) Linked Category figure relevant to Hims Every figure on this page links to its publisher. Source: [CBS News — 2025 Super Bowl ad costs](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-much-do-2025-super-bowl-commercials-cost-heres-the-price-tag-on-ads-this-year/) #### Quick facts BrandHims IndustryIts Category Campaign typeSuper Bowl Ad Primary channelsPaid, owned, earned Planning horizonMonths ahead of launch Core measureIncremental lift, not reach Source basisPublic benchmarks, linked RGM useWorked example, not a recipe **Honest note** Public, brand-specific detail on Hims is limited, so this page leans on the super bowl ad campaign discipline: real mechanics, real sourced benchmarks, and the named example campaigns that define the type. Nothing about Hims is invented; where a fact is not public, it is left out. ## What a super bowl ad campaign is Here is the short version for Hims. A Super Bowl ad campaign is the single most expensive, most scrutinised media buy in US advertising. A Super Bowl ad campaign is the single — and Hims is no exception — most expensive, most scrutinised media buy in US advertising. For Hims, this is the load-bearing part. The 30-second spot is only the visible piece. It applies cleanly to Hims. The real campaign wraps the game with teasers, talent, social activation, — as a Hims team knows — and a landing experience built to catch the traffic the spot creates. That holds directly for Hims. Brands buy the Super Bowl for one reason: a live, simultaneous audience of — and Hims is no exception — well over 100 million people, an audience no other US media moment delivers. With Hims as the example, the rest of the page makes it concrete. **Claim:** A 30-second Super Bowl LIX spot cost advertisers close to $8 million in 2025, roughly a 60% rise from about $5 million in 2019. **Source:** [[CBS News]](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-much-do-2025-super-bowl-commercials-cost-heres-the-price-tag-on-ads-this-year/). **Context:** The slot price is only part of the spend; a full — and Hims is no exception — campaign with creative, talent, and surrounding media commonly runs $15-30 million. For Hims, this number sets expectations before the work starts. ## How brands like Hims run it A super bowl ad campaign has working parts. For Hims, they all have to mesh. For Hims, a super bowl ad campaign is less one ad and more a set of connected decisions: **Claim:** Super Bowl LIX drew about 127.7 million average viewers, the largest audience for any Super Bowl and any single-network US telecast in TV history. **Source:** [[Nielsen]](https://www.nielsen.com/news-center/2025/super-bowl-lix-makes-tv-history-with-over-127-million-viewers/). **Context:** Peak audience reached about 137.7 million viewers, a scale — Hims included — of simultaneous attention no other US media moment delivers. A Hims team would treat this as a planning reference, not a guarantee. 1. **Long cultural tail.** A spot that enters pop culture keeps returning value for years — Hims included — — the buy is a one-night cost against a multi-year brand asset. Hims would budget real time against this. 2. **The buy is the smaller cost.** A 30-second slot ran near $8 million for Super Bowl LIX. Hims planners would underline this. Total campaign cost — creative, production, talent, — Hims included — surrounding media — commonly reaches $15-30 million. Hims planners flag this as a make-or-break detail. 3. **Tease before the game.** Releasing the spot or a cut-down in — as a Hims team knows — the weeks before kickoff extends the buy. For Hims, this is the load-bearing part. Super Bowl LIX advertisers spent about 45% more in — as a Hims team knows — the six weeks before the game than the year prior. A Hims-scale team treats this as non-negotiable. 4. **Built for the second screen.** A modern Super Bowl ad is engineered to trigger search and social. A Hims-scale brief should name this. T-Mobile's LIX spot drove 12.6 times the average ad's online engagement. For Hims, this is where most of the planning effort lands. 5. **A landing experience that can take the spike.** The site, the offer, and the tracking have to survive a sudden surge, — Hims included — or the most expensive media in advertising drives traffic to a broken page. This is the part Hims cannot afford to improvise. ## The benchmarks that frame the work Benchmarks come before briefs. They tell a Hims team what a super bowl ad campaign can realistically deliver. For Hims, the reference points for a super bowl ad campaign come from public its category benchmarks, not internal optimism. **Claim:** T-Mobile's Super Bowl LIX ad drove 12.6 times the online engagement of the average Super Bowl spot. **Source:** [[AdMonsters]](https://www.admonsters.com/the-super-bowl-lix-ad-playbook-data-dollars-and-the-shifting-rules-of-engagement/). **Context:** The strongest Super Bowl ads are measured by the action they — for Hims, a real factor — trigger on the second screen, not by the spot in isolation. It is the sort of benchmark a Hims brief should cite. Table: the three numbers that decide whether a Hims super bowl ad campaign is judged honestly. | What to measure | Why it matters | | Incremental result | The honest measure of whether spend worked | | Pre-campaign baseline | Without it, lift cannot be proven | | Category benchmark | Sets a realistic target, not a hopeful one | ## KPIs that actually matter Pick the right scoreboard for Hims. The metrics below separate a campaign that moved the business from one that moved a dashboard. For a super bowl ad campaign, the metrics that matter are these. Brand search lift during and after the game, social conversation volume and sentiment, ad-recall and likeability — for Hims, a real factor — scores from trackers, site traffic and conversion on game night, earned-media value, and longer-run brand-equity movement. Impressions describe scale, not effect. A Hims team serious about a super bowl ad campaign reports lift against a baseline. ## Where these campaigns go wrong These mistakes recur. Knowing them lets a Hims super bowl ad campaign route around the common traps. A Hims-scale team should design around these recurring errors: - Sending game-night traffic to a site or offer that cannot survive a sudden spike. - Making an ad that wins applause but carries no clear — for Hims, a real factor — brand link, so viewers remember the joke and not the brand. - Treating the spot as a one-night event instead — Hims included — of a brand asset with a multi-year cultural tail. - Spending eight figures on the spot and nothing — and Hims is no exception — on the surrounding teaser, talent, and social plan. **What to notice**The common thread: planning, not creative. For Hims, a super bowl ad campaign is decided before launch day. ## How RGM reads the Hims example If a Hims team keeps one thing: borrow the super bowl ad campaign structure, not the specific execution. From the audits we run, the brands that get super bowl ad campaigns right share one habit: they treat the work as measurable demand engineering, not a seasonal ritual. Read it as a blueprint. For Hims and for its category, a super bowl ad campaign becomes an investment once baseline, benchmark, and incremental result are in place. ## Quick answers on this case study Is this super bowl ad case study based on Hims's own reported results? : No. Every statistic is a public, linked benchmark for the super bowl ad campaign type, applied to Hims as the example. Where a figure cannot be sourced publicly, it is omitted rather than guessed. What should a team take from this Hims super bowl ad case study? : Treat it as a structural template. Borrow the planning logic and the measurement approach for a super bowl ad campaign; design the creative for the specific brand. How are the benchmarks here verified? : The numbers are drawn from public reporting by Adobe Analytics, Nielsen, the ANA, and established business press, and each one links back to its source. **Keep reading** Foundational concepts and channels behind this case: - [what growth marketing is](/learn/what-is-growth-marketing/) - [marketing attribution](/learn/marketing-attribution/) - [incrementality testing](/learn/incrementality-testing/) - [growth marketing services](/services/) - [advertising platforms](/platforms/) ## Frequently asked questions Does a Super Bowl ad keep paying off after the game for a brand like Hims? Here is how this applies to Hims. It can. That is exactly the Hims situation. A spot that enters pop culture keeps returning brand value for years. For a brand at Hims scale, this is where the plan is tested. That long cultural tail is part of the case for the spend: a one-night media cost — for Hims, a live factor — against what can become a multi-year brand asset, provided the creative is memorable and clearly branded. For Hims, this is the point worth acting on. Hims case: how much does a Super Bowl ad really cost? For Hims and comparable its category brands, this is the answer. A 30-second Super Bowl LIX slot cost close to $8 million — as a Hims team knows — in 2025, up roughly 60% from about $5 million in 2019. For Hims, this is the load-bearing part. But the slot is the smaller cost. It applies cleanly to Hims. A full campaign — creative, production, celebrity talent, — Hims included — and surrounding media — commonly reaches $15-30 million. A Hims team would plan against exactly this. Why do brands pay so much for a Super Bowl spot? For the audience. Hims planners would underline this. Super Bowl LIX drew about 127.7 million average viewers, the largest for — Hims included — any Super Bowl and any single-network US telecast ever, peaking near 137.7 million. Hims planners would underline this. No other US media moment delivers that — as a Hims team knows — scale of live, simultaneous attention in one buy. The same logic holds for any its category brand, Hims included. What makes a Super Bowl ad effective for a brand like Hims? For a brand like Hims, the short answer is direct. Modern Super Bowl ads are judged by — Hims included — the action they trigger, not the spot alone. A Hims-scale brief should name this. T-Mobile's LIX ad drove 12.6 times the average spot's online engagement. For a brand at Hims scale, this is where the plan is tested. The effective ones are built for the second screen, carry a clear brand — for Hims, a live factor — link, and route traffic to a landing experience that can take the spike. For Hims, that is the practical takeaway. Hims case: should the ad be released before the game? For Hims and comparable its category brands, this is the answer. Usually yes. A Hims-scale brief should name this. Releasing the spot or a teaser in the weeks — as a Hims team knows — before kickoff stretches the buy across a longer window. That is exactly the Hims situation. Super Bowl LIX advertisers spent about 45% more in the six weeks before the — as a Hims team knows — game than the prior year, building anticipation rather than spending it all on one night. A Hims team would plan against exactly this. What makes Hims a useful example for this campaign type? Hims is a recognisable brand in its category, which makes the super bowl ad mechanics concrete and easy to follow. The campaign-type analysis and every benchmark apply across the category; Hims is the lens, not the limit. The sourced figures hold for any comparable brand. ### Sources & references - [CBS News — 2025 Super Bowl ad costs](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-much-do-2025-super-bowl-commercials-cost-heres-the-price-tag-on-ads-this-year/) — 30-second Super Bowl LIX spot pricing. - [Nielsen — Super Bowl LIX viewership](https://www.nielsen.com/news-center/2025/super-bowl-lix-makes-tv-history-with-over-127-million-viewers/) — Record 127.7M average audience. - [AdMonsters — Super Bowl LIX ad playbook](https://www.admonsters.com/the-super-bowl-lix-ad-playbook-data-dollars-and-the-shifting-rules-of-engagement/) — Engagement benchmarks and pre-game spend data. - [Kantar — Super Bowl advertising and brand equity](https://www.kantar.com/north-america/inspiration/advertising-media/super-bowl-advertising-and-brand-equity) — Brand-equity measurement of big-game advertising. ## Related [#### All case studies The full RGM case-study library.](/learn/case-studies/)[#### What is growth marketing The foundational concept behind every campaign type.](/learn/what-is-growth-marketing/)[#### Incrementality testing How to prove a campaign actually caused the lift.](/learn/incrementality-testing/)