Toyota’s latest Super Bowl LX spot does not just sell a crossover, it sells a lump in the throat. The “Superhero Belt” commercial turns a simple seatbelt click into a full‑blown origin story, and viewers are openly admitting it made them cry. In a game packed with loud celebrity cameos and snack gags, this quiet family drama is the one people are still replaying.
The ad leans into the idea that the real special effects are the memories built in the car, not the CGI outside it. By the time the story jumps from a first‑generation RAV4 to a shiny new model, the superhero fantasy has morphed into something softer and more universal: the way one small ritual can carry a family across decades.
The generational story that sneaks up on you
The emotional hook starts in the past, with a grandfather in a first‑generation RAV4 turning an ordinary safety reminder into a myth. He hands his young grandson an imaginary “superhero belt,” a playful way to get him to buckle up that quietly reframes the seatbelt as a symbol of protection and love rather than nagging. That early scene, set inside the older Toyota, sets up the entire arc that later unfolds in a modern RAV4 as the boy grows up and eventually drives his own child, still guided by that same ritual, a detail captured in the official spot description.
What makes the structure land is how little else is going on around it. The camera mostly stays inside the car, letting the faces and the evolving ages of the characters do the work while the RAV4 quietly ages and upgrades in the background. Analysts have pointed out that the generational story hits harder because nothing flashy competes with it for attention, a simplicity that lets the “superhero belt” idea evolve from a kid’s game into a family heirloom, as noted in one creative breakdown.
Why “Superhero Belt” has everyone crying
Viewers were primed for jokes and junk food, then got blindsided by a soft, nostalgic gut punch. Social clips have been circulating with fans admitting they were “brb, crying” over the Toyota Super Bowl commercial, with one viral reel pointing out that Super Bowl ads had mostly been about snacks and drinks but that Toyota just changed that tone with “Superhero Belt,” a sentiment captured in a popular Instagram reaction. Coverage ahead of the game even predicted that Toyota’s 2026 Super Bowl Ad May Be The Commercial That Has Everyone Crying, framing the Super Bowl LX spot as a guaranteed tearjerker built around the long relationship people have with their cars and the memories inside them, as one preview of the Super Bowl LX put it.
Once the ad aired, that prediction held up. Commentators described the Toyota Super Bowl commercial 2026 “Superhero Belt” as a straight‑up tearjerker, noting how the spot follows the boy from childhood to fatherhood as he passes the same “superhero belt” line to his own kid in a 2026 RAV4, a detail highlighted in coverage of the Toyota Super Bowl. Another write‑up flatly stated that Toyota’s 2026 Super Bowl Ad May Be The Commercial That Has Everyone Crying, tying the emotional response to how the Super Bowl LX campaign taps into the way cars bookmark so many of our memories, as explained in a separate look at the cry‑inducing campaign.
How Toyota turned a safety line into a cultural moment
The emotional punch is not an accident, it is the product of a very deliberate creative strategy. Global automotive brand Toyota partnered with Saatchi & Saatchi to build “Superhero Belt” as a Super Bowl story about personal growth and forward momentum, using the RAV4 as the constant backdrop for a family’s evolution, a collaboration detailed in a profile of the Global Toyota brief. The spot was Created by Saatchi & Saatchi and directed by Rodrigo Saavedra through Pulse Films, a team known for visually rich but human‑scale storytelling, as outlined in a behind‑the‑scenes look at how they turned the RAV4.
Industry reviewers have been almost as sentimental as the fans. One Super Bowl 60 recap noted that Toyota Motor went directly for sentimentality with “superhero belt,” saying the brand decided to tug on heartstrings as well as seatbelts in one of its in‑game buys, a choice summed up in a live ad recap. Another review praised the Toyota spot’s Simple, understated storytelling, arguing that the quiet focus on a boy and his grandfather made it one of the best crafted commercials in the game, as seen in an assessment of the Toyota execution.
More from Wilder Media Group: