Stand up for the facts!

Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy.
We need your help.

More Info

I would like to contribute

Sofia Ahmed
By Sofia Ahmed February 13, 2025

Elon Musk didn’t pay $40 million for five DOGE Super Bowl commercials

If Your Time is short

  • A complete list of 2025 Super Bowl ads by Adweek, a marketing magazine, didn’t include a Department of Government Efficiency ad.

  • A Google search for a DOGE commercial yielded no results.

  • The post’s photo is old and unrelated to Musk purchasing Super Bowl commercials. It shows Musk celebrating buying Twitter in 2022 while drinking bourbon with colleagues, according to the Daily Mail.

As Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has worked to shrink the federal government, some social media users said the entrepreneur would use the Feb. 9 Super Bowl to publicize DOGE’s efforts.

"Elon Musk spent 40 million of his own money to buy 5, 30 second long commercial shots during Super Bowl where hes gonna list all the corruption DOGE has found so far," a Feb. 8 Facebook post riddled with grammatical errors said. The post features an image of Musk holding a bottle of bourbon.

Screenshot from Facebook

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)

Sign up for PolitiFact texts

But no such ad appeared during Super Bowl LIX. Adweek, a marketing magazine, didn’t include a DOGE ad in its 2025 complete list of Super Bowl ads

A Google search for a DOGE commercial yielded no results. T-Mobile aired an ad announcing its partnership with Musk’s Starlink, a satellite network that expands high-speed internet access to areas without traditional cellular towers.

Featured Fact-check

The Facebook post used an old photo that is unrelated to Musk purchasing Super Bowl commercials. It shows Musk celebrating buying Twitter in 2022 while drinking bourbon with colleagues, according to the Daily Mail.

Pro Football Network reported that the claim was amplified by X account @conservativema, which wrote Feb. 7, "Elon Musk is running Super Bowl ads. Reports indicate he’s spending $40 million of his own money on five 30-second commercials that expose government waste, as found by the Department of Government Efficiency." The post has since been deleted.

Two veteran Republican veteran experts told Reuters that Musk has directed cost-cutting efforts toward agencies that President Donald Trump’s administration disagrees with ideologically rather than toward saving taxpayer dollars.

We rate the claim that Musk spent $40 million to buy five Super Bowl commercial ads to promote DOGE False.

Browse the Truth-O-Meter

More by Sofia Ahmed

slide 4 to 6 of 15

Elon Musk didn’t pay $40 million for five DOGE Super Bowl commercials

Support independent fact-checking.
Become a member!

In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts.

Sign me up