Anthropic’s Super Bowl ads mocking AI with ads helped push Claude’s app into the top 10

Anthropic's recent Super Bowl advertisements, which humorously depicted scenarios where individuals sought chatbot advice only to receive comically inappropriate suggestions, have proven to be a successful marketing strategy. Following the airing of these ads, Claude, Anthropic's AI chatbot, has surged from the No. 41 spot on the U.S. App Store to a remarkable No. 7 — its highest position to date. As of Friday, the surge in interest is reflected in the app's performance, with Claude achieving approximately 148,000 downloads across both iOS and Android platforms from Sunday through Tuesday. This marks a significant 32% increase compared to the preceding three-day period, which recorded around 112,000 downloads. The average daily downloads for Claude during this recent stretch reached 49,200, also up 32% from its typical average of 37,400. The impressive growth suggests that the combination of the Super Bowl campaign and the release of Claude's new Opus 4.6 model has effectively captured user attention, particularly as it differentiates itself from competitors like ChatGPT, which recently introduced advertisements for its free users — a move that aligns with the warnings depicted in Anthropic's ads. Claude's journey has been noteworthy since its launch on iOS in May 2024. Initially met with lukewarm reception, the app lagged behind ChatGPT, which garnered nearly half a million installs within its first five days. In contrast, Claude managed only 157,000 global downloads in its first week and peaked at No. 55 on the U.S. App Store. However, this week has seen a renewed interest in Claude globally, with worldwide downloads across the App Store and Google Play increasing by 15% from Sunday to Tuesday compared to the previous Thursday to Saturday. While this growth is substantial, it remains less than half of the gains observed in the U.S., according to Appfigures.