Ring's Creepy Super Bowl Commercial Caused Many Viewers to Worry About Big Brother Surveillance

The 2026 Super Bowl had its fair share of memorable moments. Bad Bunny delivered an electric halftime show featuring Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin, with appearances from Cardi B, Pedro Pascal, and Jessica Alba. A streaker ran across the field with cryptic messages scrawled on his skin. And amid commercials for Budweiser, Lay's, Dunkin' Donuts, and Pepsi, Ring's ad stood out.

However, the ad got people talking for the wrong reasons. Many claimed that it was creepy, making them fearful of what Ring's technology could do to invade their privacy in the future. Here's what we know.

The Ring ad begins with a family posting a "lost dog" flyer to a telephone pole. "Pets are family. But every year, 10 million go missing," the voiceover begins.

The ad explains that Ring has a new feature that will allow people to use their neighborhood's network of Ring cameras to help them find lost pets. To use it, they'll need to opt in to the "Search Party" feature and post a photo of their lost dog to the app.

At that point, the app will use AI and the Ring cameras of any household that opts in to search for the lost pet. The ad boasts that since the feature launched, "More than a dog a day has been reunited with their family."

While the idea of lost pets finding their way home is a positive one, the ad struck the wrong chord with audiences because it's not a large leap to imagine the technology being used to track people in the future.

Critics say that the ad demonstrates private companies establishing Big Brother and asking customers to opt in, per Fox 9. Dr. Jane Kirtley from the University of Minnesota told Fox 9, "It’s interesting to me that they would be so candid about the potential use of this particular technology." She added that this reminds viewers that technologies are often linked in ways we might not realize.

After people opt in to the Search Party feature, it's possible that the privacy terms could quietly change or connect with other technologies with different permissions. Folks in Minnesota and elsewhere raised concerns that ICE could potentially use AI and Ring cameras to track people down.

And weighed against the potential consequences of opting in, the upsides of the technology are not very impressive based on the statistics Ring shared in the ad. One X user summed it up, writing: "10 million dogs go missing every year, help us find 365 of them by soft launching the total surveillance state." Someone added, "That's .003 percent ... That's not even close to compelling."

Another person wrote, "I've never seen a commercial destroy a company's reputation before. Great work, Ring." Another commenter echoed the sentiment, saying, "I had no opinion on Ring doorbells, but now I will actively avoid purchasing one as long as I live."