Instacart returns to Super Bowl with musical-led ad

Instacart has returned to the Super Bowl with a musical-led commercial built around its Preference Picker feature, pairing Ben Stiller and Benson Boone in a performance focused on how shoppers choose their bananas.

Set on a large-scale stage with orange and green lighting, the ad opens with the duo singing about selecting banana ripeness through the app before escalating into a competitive musical sequence. Boone’s character raises the stakes with vocal flourishes and a mid-performance flip, while Stiller’s character attempts to keep up and crashes into a drum kit. The spot ends on the line Bananas just how you like, linking the humour to Preference Picker, which allows customers to specify banana ripeness.

Extended cut and creative approach

Alongside the broadcast spot, Instacart is releasing a longer director’s cut from Spike Jonze. The extended version expands the rivalry into a fuller narrative, adding more choreography, humour and character development before building to the onstage crash.

The campaign adopts a deliberately retro production style, using vintage tube cameras to amplify a disco-inspired aesthetic and tactile feel. Instacart’s in-house creative agency, Local Produce, led the work in partnership with McCann and BBDO.

Production and creative collaboration

The production brought together a range of collaborators, including choreographer Robbie Blue, production designer Meghan McClure, costume designer Courtney Hoffman and director of photography Autumn Arkapaw. Their work shaped the choreography, stage build, costumes and visual language of the film.

Danilo Boer, Global Creative Lead and Partner, McCann: “From the beginning it was clear we shared the same creative sensibilities and love for epic absurdity as the Local Produce team. We quickly became one team ideating and problem solving in real time. This partnership, combined with Spike's incredible storytelling skills, Ben's unmatched comedic voice, and Benson Boone's out-of-this-world musical talent was the recipe for a truly memorable film.”

Instacart’s return to the Super Bowl

The ad marks Instacart’s second consecutive Super Bowl appearance and reflects its focus on product-led storytelling. The brand is using humour and spectacle to underline attention to detail in grocery shopping, particularly around quality and personal preferences.

Laura Jones, Chief Marketing Officer at Instacart: “We're thrilled to be back in the lineup for this year's Big Game. Last year's results exceeded our expectations and propelled our business forward, so this year we wanted to show, in the boldest way possible, that Instacart is the grocery technology leader that truly cares about getting your groceries right. We intentionally cast an unexpected duo who each bring something distinct: sharp comedic timing and emotional, musical lift.”

Talent reactions and teaser rollout

Ben Stiller and Benson Boone also appear in teaser content released ahead of the game, introducing their characters and previewing the tone of the main film across U.S. and Canadian platforms.

Ben Stiller: “Spike Jonze is one of our great directors – so working with him was a dream. Benson is insanely talented, both as a dancer, singer, athlete, and now actor. The whole thing was so much fun.”

Benson Boone: “Working on a Super Bowl commercial for Instacart blew my mind. However, adding Ben Stiller to the equation… diabolical.”

Preference Picker and grocery controls

The campaign introduces Preference Picker as part of Instacart’s suite of in-app Grocery Quality Controls. Available across most retailers on the marketplace, the feature allows customers to choose banana ripeness, with plans to explore expansion into other categories such as avocados and deli counters.

Instacart highlighted bananas due to their status as the platform’s top-selling item, with more than 1.8 billion delivered to date and over 32 million shopper notes attached, illustrating how small preferences influence customer satisfaction.

www.instacart.com

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