We’ll Have What They’re Having: Hellmann’s Super Bowl Ad Goes Transatlantic

Hellmann’s Super Bowl ad played its part last week in making the 2025 Super Bowl the most effective for advertising in six years. In the US it was a 4-Star ad, one of many standouts on the biggest night in American TV.

But Hellmann’s is a global brand, not just a US one, and the ad is getting an airing across multiple markets, including Britain. The cultural touchstone it’s playing off – classic 1989 romcom When Harry Met Sally – was a hit worldwide and topped the UK box office too, so Hellmann’s could feel sure that British audiences would get the reference.

The reference being, of course, the most legendary scene in the movie, where Meg Ryan demonstrates to co-star Billy Crystal just how easy it is for women to fake an orgasm – by staging one in a crowded diner. At the end of her ecstatic performance a fellow customer turns to the waitress and says the iconic line: “I’ll have what she’s having”.

Hellmann’s have recruited Ryan and Crystal to re-enact the famous scene, punchline and all, except this time her response is triggered by adding Hellmann’s mayo to a sandwich. The power of nostalgia and cultural references is something we’ve talked about a lot at System1. In Orlando Wood’s effectiveness playbook Lemon, he explains that cultural references are so effective because they draw the attention of the right side of the brain, which spots connections and relationships between things and helps build longer-term associations for brands. Re-enacting a clever, classic scene from a film is exactly the kind of thing he’s talking about.

So you’d expect the Hellmann’s remake, “When Sally Met Hellmann’s” to perform well. But what we found is that the in-house ad worked even better for a UK audience than it did for the Super Bowl watchers in the US. In the UK it broke the 5-Star barrier, scoring 5.1-Stars – a score that predicts exceptional long-term share gain with the right level of investment. It also scored an Exceptional Spike Rating, predicting short-term sales gains. In both cases this is way above the condiments category average.

So how come the UK performance is so spectacular, even compared to the US scores? One factor that may well be in play is that at the Super Bowl, audiences are seeing ad after ad stuffed with celebrities and cultural references. The average game night ad this year was 3.0-Stars, compared to only 2.3-Stars for US ads as a whole. In other words, Hellmann’s in the UK scores higher because its emotional elements stand out more at a time most UK ads aren’t making a special effort.

And this has lessons for advertisers. For one thing, US brands with a UK presence should definitely be running their Super Bowl ads here – the high budget and the aim to entertain really will cut through. And for advertisers who don’t have a Super Bowl ad on tap? They should have what Hellmann’s is having, and set out to make one just as fun, bold and impactful.