A Ben Stiller-Benson Boone disco-pop duo? Instacart's 'crazy' Super Bowl ad

LOS ANGELES – When it comes to his career in Hollywood, multi-hyphenate entertainer Ben Stiller seems to have everything figured out, from blockbuster hits to critically acclaimed series like "Severance" and "Escape at Dannemora."

But when it comes to planning a Super Bowl party, Stiller might need a little help. Thankfully for him, the actor's latest project involves grocery delivery service Instacart. Stiller stars alongside Grammy-nominated pop star Benson Boone in the company's new big game ad entitled, "Bananas." And that's the food item top of mind for Stiller when responding to a question about what might be served at his game day watch party.

"I like fruits and vegetables," the actor, 60, tells USA TODAY on the set of the commercial. "By the way, these bananas are so cold and fresh. If you could smell and touch them right now."

Which Stiller proceeds to do, picking up the ripe bananas from the grocery bag behind us and giving them a whiff. The actor shows the same commitment to the bit in the 30 second spot. For "Bananas," Boone and Stiller play an 80's European disco-pop duo called Benissimo (Italian for "very well") who believe they have a hit on their hands with a song that was written back in 1984. But when Boone sticks one of his signature backflips, the ante is upped to a level that Stiller clearly isn't prepared for.

"He's such a sweet, young person who's so talented," Stiller says of his 23-year-old costar, credited with hits like "Beautiful Things" and "Mystical Magical." "We had to jump into this kind of crazy reality together and we've been having so much fun."

In addition to Stiller's maiden voyage with Boone, it's the actor's first time working with Spike Jonze, who directed said "crazy reality" on a 60-foot stage draped with LEDs, background dancers in banana costumes and 3D-printed musical equipment. Jonze has directed countless music videos and won an Oscar for best original screenplay in 2014 with his movie "Her." The ad marks Jonze's first entry into the big game since his 2002 Levi's ad that finished in the top 10 on USA TODAY Ad Meter.

"This group Benissimo, this is a big break for them actually getting the Super Bowl spot," Stiller explains of the backstory behind he and Boone's musical characters. He notes that Jonze "really got into" the relationship between the two singers and the retro feel of the spot, filming the ad in a different aspect ratio with vintage cameras. Meanwhile, Stiller found inspiration for his character by his look.

"I usually go off of external things like facial hair and hairstyles," says Stiller, who has donned memorable facial hair in a number of films throughout his career. Stiller then cracks a joke at his costar's expense. "And interestingly enough, Benson's mustache isn't real either. He doesn't talk about it."

Instacart goes long with big stars and a new feature rollout

Stiller believes this might be the first "purely banana-centric Super Bowl spot" in history and he's probably correct, although last year Meta spoofed the viral banana art piece that sold for $6.2 million in its big game ad. Instacart, which invited USA TODAY behind the scenes to its commercial with Stiller, is leaning on a different number for its commercial: 1.8 billion. That's the number of bananas sold in Instacart's 13-year history, according to the company's chief marketing officer Laura Jones. With the ad comes a new Instacart feature: preference picker. The update affords customers more options when picking certain grocery items, including the choice of how ripe they prefer their bananas.

"With those banana orders we've had 32 million shopper notes, which is people writing a little note underneath once they add the banana to the cart," Jones says. The notes typically specify the color and/or size of banana that the consumer is looking for. "That led us to realize that we have more insight into how America wants their bananas than any other company in the world. We need to make it easier for people to express those preferences and not have to type everything."

Jones reveals that the new option starts with bananas and will soon expand to other items that shoppers typically have preferences for, including deli meat and avocados. With the help of AI, Jones says that a new suite of quality controls will be available to shoppers. The Instacart executive also touts another feature: second store check.

"You want a very specific flavor of ice cream," Jones hypothesizes. "If that specific store you are wanting to order from doesn't have your ice cream, but there's a shopper in another store that has that same ice cream, we can say, 'Hey, it's out of stock at your first store, but we have someone available to help get it to you. Do you want it still?'"

This is Instacart's second Super Bowl commercial. The 2025 spot relied on grocery store icons like Mr. Clean, the Pillsbury Doughboy, Chester Cheetah along with one human talent: actor Isaiah Mustafa, who stars in Old Spice's commercials. For 2026, Jones says the brand wanted to both differentiate from the prior commercial while maintaining the potential to breakthrough to an audience.

"Ben Stiller brings this incredible iconic kind of comedic chops to the table and has just such broad appeal," she says of actor's casting. "And then we loved the idea of pairing him with someone really unexpected, but that also made sense. With Ben's comedic chops and Benson's musicality and showmanship, it just felt like this really electric combination."

Ben Stiller is glad that Instacart's Super Bowl ad is made in California

Stiller is an executive producer and director on the hit Apple TV+ series "Severance." He's also directing an upcoming drama set during World War II that stars Jeremy Allen White. And he's reprising his role as Greg Focker in the fourth installment of the "Meet the Fockers" franchise entitled, "Focker-In-Law."

But when it comes to filmmaking in the U.S., specifically Los Angeles, Stiller would like to see more take place.

"If you're shooting a movie that takes place in Italy, great, go to Italy or if it's cheaper go do it in Croatia," he says with a laugh. "But for America, what's really frustrating is that people have to leave the country to go shoot a movie that takes place here because it's just too expensive.

"I'm glad we're doing (the commercial) here and it feels like there's an effort to bring a lot more production back, but I think that's one of the things we need to do is figure out some sort of a federal tax incentive to bring production back, to help with the states that do it individually. We as a country can do that and bring those filmmaking jobs back to America."