Ben Stiller, Benson Boone and Spike Jonze Go Bananas at the Super Bowl for Instacart
“We want to do a single ad about bananas,” ponders Instacart chief marketing officer Laura Jones about the brand’s 2026 Super Bowl effort. “How do we get anyone to care?”
The answer to the question was found in Ben Stiller, Benson Boone, director Spike Jonze and an incredible collaborative effort between the brand’s internal creative agency, Local Produce, and McCann and BBDO.
Set on a 60-foot, glittering stage washed in orange and green LED light, Instacart’s Super Bowl spot opens with Ben and Benson, directed by Spike, singing in sync about how they choose their perfect bananas using the platform’s Preference Picker. What begins as a polished duet quickly escalates into a musical showdown with Benson raising the stakes with pitch perfect vocals and a mid-performance flip, and Ben crashing spectacularly into a drum kit.
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Returning to the Super Bowl for the second time, Instacart knew that it had to deliver something big, memorable and real to make the investment worthwhile. “This year we wanted to come back with a more pointed message and really think about how we bring people into the category that may not currently be using online grocery,” says Laura, discussing the insight behind this year’s ‘Bananas’ campaign with LBB’s Abi Lightfoot. “What we know is that a key barrier for folks like that is the feeling that it's hard to trust someone else to get it right.
“If I go to the grocery store I can pick out a perfectly marbled piece of meat, or the exact perfect banana, but if I'm trusting someone else to do it, how can I be confident they'll get it right?”
Its debut Big Game campaign, 2025’s ‘We’re Here’, saw Instacart debut “with all of our buddies from the CPG world,” says Laura. It was an awareness-driving mission, intended to get in front of Super Bowl audiences in a bold, direct way. The approach paid dividends; Instacart was ranked number one among first-time advertisers on the USA Today ad metre, saw a 72% spike in new user traffic and received 43% more installs from the Apple ad store on Super Bowl Sunday, versus an average Sunday.
“The humble banana” shone as the unexpected star of the campaign. Instacart’s most-shopped item with over 1.8 billion units sold, it was also the item that had the “most shopper notes”, with 32 million shoppers using the in-app freeform text field to divulge exactly how ripe they wanted their fruit.
It was evident that people really cared about bananas. So, the next step to help shoppers express their preferences was to build the ‘Preference Picker’, the latest tool in Instacart’s suite of grocery quality controls.
With the technology in hand, launching the new offering grew from there, “Let's announce it on the biggest stage, and let's use our Super Bowl moment to celebrate the simple but actually complicated act of getting the perfect banana for each shopper out there,” says Laura.
Embracing the “Inherently Ridiculous”
Instacart’s internal creative agency, Local Produce, worked in partnership with McCann and BBDO on the campaign, collaborating with a team who were previously based across FCB New York, Chicago and Toronto prior to the Omnicom-IPG merger. “They were incredible,” says Laura, “and I’m truly so grateful that they committed to keep the team together and functioning as a team through the Super Bowl to ensure that the campaign went off without a hitch.”
If the final spot is anything to go by, the process was a fun one, something that McCann’s global creative lead and partner, Danilo Boer can attest to. “Instacart and its internal agency, Local Produce, welcomed us agency partners as if we were part of their team,” he says.
“I remember a trip we all took to San Francisco to brainstorm at the Instacart office. We were all sitting around one big table, throwing out ideas, putting things on the whiteboard, and being extremely transparent and open. No egos. It truly felt like a group of friends trying to find something special together.”
Looking for an approach that would make people care about bananas on advertising’s biggest night, the team landed on the idea of a comedy-driven music and dance video about choosing the perfect banana. They knew that there was a certain duality to the idea that they would have to balance for the spot to truly resonate. “It had to be funny because it's bananas and it's kind of inherently ridiculous to make a Super Bowl ad about bananas,” says Laura. At the same time, the spot had to effectively launch the Preference Picker to a market of shoppers obsessed with control.
“That level of control led us to the idea that if you really, really love controlling your groceries, you might be a bit of a control freak – maybe even a little obsessed,” says Danilo. “That naturally brought us to Ben Stiller, who excels at creating high-strung, over-the-top characters who will go above and beyond to get what they want.
“From there, we needed someone who could outshine Ben’s character, and there’s nothing better than a super-young, good-looking, singing superstar who can also do backflips on stage.”
Of course, Danilo’s referring to Benson Boone, Ben Stiller’s Super Bowl counterpart and the other half of the sibling singing duo.
Ben and Benson’s Super Bowl appearance was initially teased through two teaser trailers, showing the brothers, Gary and John, preparing for their Big Game performance. Bickering and donning impressive moustaches, the two teasers established the less than harmonious dynamic between the pair that would go on to take centre stage in the full campaign.
Those teasers and the final commercial – including an extended director’s cut – were directed by Spike Jonze. Invited to the project by Ben, it marked his first Super Bowl commercial in more than 20 years. He brought a team of “best in class Hollywood folks” onto the crew, according to Laura, including Autumn Arkapaw, the Oscar-nominated director of photography behind ‘Sinners’, choreographer Robbie Blue, production designer Meghan McClure and costume designer Courtney Hoffman.
“We wanted this to feel more like a short film or sketch than a traditional commercial,” says Danilo. “Spike not only brought his mastery of storytelling, but he’s also a visual visionary who helped us create a truly unique world.
“He pushed the characters into more interesting territory, elevated the set design and wardrobe, and made the decision to shoot everything practically – using real ’80s broadcast cameras instead of VFX. He was absolutely essential.”
Laura adds that the message underscoring the campaign is “about caring enough to get it right,” which came through in how they approached producing the film with their production partners at MJZ. “We shot it on vintage tube cameras with a four-three ratio, so it will not fill up your HDTV and it will look grainy, and that's intentional,” she says.
Discovering the Unknown
It was a “dream come true”, adds Laura, to have such a cast and crew working on the campaign. Working with writer Nathaniel Lawlor, the campaign evolved into a universe that felt authentic to the talent on screen, and Spike behind the camera.
“Spike is so known for creating these mysterious universes that are kind of retro but also futuristic, or in our case it’s this non-specific Euro-pop duo, Benissimo – they're vaguely Italian but not totally on the nose,” says Laura, who explains that the production process was about “trying to create something that felt believable for a music video about bananas, but also really delightful, funny and entertaining”.
“We wanted to create a world with elements inspired by the ’70s and ’80s,” says Danilo. “Eras where our audience over-indexes – while also introducing some strangely futuristic touches. The goal was to build an Instacart world that felt like no one else’s.
“Most brands cast celebrities to play themselves,” he adds. “We were ‘discovering’ this unknown singing duo and giving them the biggest stage in the world. Ben and Benson fit perfectly because the world was built entirely around their characters.”
In a press statement from the brand, Ben called Spike “one of our great directors” and said that working with him was a dream. “Benson is insanely talented, both as a dancer, singer, athlete, and now actor,” he added. “The whole thing was so much fun.”
“Working on a Super Bowl commercial for Instacart blew my mind,” added Benson. “However, adding Ben Stiller to the equation… diabolical.”
The duo brought scope for improvisation and experimentation to the set. The song was written and the key beats in place, “but Ben is a master of improvisation and brought so much to the script,” says Danilo. “Benson was also incredible – he went toe-to-toe with Ben and delivered some truly hilarious improvised lines.”
The shoot itself was “planned down to the second” to give Ben and Benson “space to play, improvise and be funny,” adds Danilo.
“Ben recorded his part in New York City while Benson dialed in from Texas, and we had to bring it all together seamlessly. Another major preparation was building a massive set and rehearsing the big jumps with stunt performers. We dedicated a full day solely to stunt practice. Luckily, Benson didn’t need any stunt doubles – he can do that backflip again and again. It was mind-blowing to watch.”
The duo’s natural camaraderie on set opened the door for more. Initially, the brand had planned to release a single teaser, however the amount of “funny, good material” improvised on set meant there was scope to run two.
“If you watch the long form, a lot of that was improvised,” Laura explains. “I think once they got into character it just flowed, and I think when you're working with this calibre of talent as a marketer, part of your job is to get out of the way a bit. I mean you still need to make sure it's on strategy, on brief, and getting what you need, and that was my job, but also to give a little bit of leeway and just let them do their thing.”
Looking ahead, ‘Bananas’ marks the start of a broader, full-funnel campaign around Preference Picker. On social media ‘The Great Banana Debate’ will kick off alongside ads featuring Benson, while billboards in Times Square and print will support the message that Instacart lets you customise your bananas – and other groceries – far beyond the Super Bowl.
“It really starts to bring attention to this conversation and hopefully primes the pump for a full funnel campaign to help drive this message home,” says Laura, “and my hope is that at the end of that campaign, we've moved the needle on perceptions of quality and care.”
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