When the fourth quarter of Super Bowl 60 arrived on February 8, 2026, millions of viewers were expecting the usual parade of celebrity-studded commercials, heartfelt narratives, and maybe a few wild stunts. But few could have predicted that YouTube sensation Jimmy Donaldson—better known as MrBeast—would transform the most coveted advertising stage in the world into a high-stakes, interactive puzzle hunt, with a real $1 million prize waiting for the first solver.
The 30-second spot, dubbed "The Vault," aired in the thick of the game and immediately set the internet abuzz. According to ARGNet, the commercial centered around Salesforce’s AI-powered Slackbot assistant and was nothing short of a whirlwind: MrBeast strode through a secure facility—complete with lasers, engineers, and military personnel—laying out the rules for a challenge that would stretch far beyond the confines of a single commercial break. The final frame flashed a QR code, which sent viewers to a dedicated MrBeast page on Salesforce’s website, where the puzzle hunt officially began.
“I have placed $1 million inside a vault,” MrBeast declared in the ad, his trademark showmanship on full display. “Whoever solves the puzzles first gets the money.” As Wired and ARGNet reported, the commercial was packed with fleeting visual clues—a spider here, a sine wave there, even mathematical symbols and animals—hinting that nothing was accidental and everything might be a piece of the larger puzzle.
But how did this all come together? The origins of the campaign trace back to a single tweet from Donaldson in December 2025. “I’ve been sitting on an amazing Super Bowl commercial idea for years. I know it’s random but someone please let me make your brand’s Super Bowl commercial so I can finally make this idea happen,” he posted. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff was quick to respond, offering up his company’s ad slot and setting off a whirlwind of creative collaboration. According to ARGNet and Wired, the entire process—from pitch to broadcast—took just 27 days, a feat made possible by the very tool the commercial was promoting: Slack, and its AI assistant Slackbot.
MrBeast’s team, already heavy Slack users, found that Slackbot’s ability to sift information, track details, and connect disparate data points mirrored the very skills required to solve the Million Dollar Puzzle. Benioff himself described Slackbot as a “teammate with agentic superpowers,” and Salesforce released additional videos showing MrBeast using Slack to coordinate his sprawling team. The campaign marked a sharp departure from Salesforce’s previous Super Bowl efforts, which leaned on Hollywood celebrities like Matthew McConaughey. This time, the brand was betting big on Gen Z’s favorite creator and a viral, participatory spectacle.
The puzzle hunt itself, designed with help from the renowned Lone Shark Games, was anything but simple. According to ARGNet, the contest featured “real, nonlinear, and interconnected puzzles,” with clues scattered across videos, websites, and even the real world. Some hints were buried in prior teaser content—like a Freleng Door Gag-inspired video or a behind-the-scenes look at the pitch process—while others lurked in the most unexpected places. A barcode on an armored tank, a series of red-circled dates on a bank teller’s desk calendar, and acrostic messages that sometimes turned out to be deliberate red herrings all kept would-be solvers guessing.
To get started, participants followed the QR code from the commercial to MrBeast.Salesforce.com, where they could register and begin the hunt. The official rules, as reported by Wired, made it clear that the challenge would not be solved in a single sitting. Instead, it would stretch over several weeks, with clues popping up across social media, future MrBeast videos, and even public appearances—including Donaldson’s February 6, 2026, guest spot on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. “Clues are everywhere: videos, websites, and the real world. Anytime you see MrBeast with Salesforce, assume there’s something there,” teased the contest site.
One especially clever entry point was a pinned comment on a MrBeast video that linked to a playlist of nine past videos. Each of those videos, in turn, pointed to a variety puzzle—such as a Sudoku variant using the letters in LIF(E)CHANGE instead of numbers. Solving the first puzzle was just the beginning; additional guidance on which letters to focus on would emerge from other campaign elements, encouraging collaboration and persistence.
Lone Shark Games, the puzzle design firm behind the hunt, brought plenty of experience to the table. They’ve previously orchestrated spectacle-laden puzzle events for Wired, Cards Against Humanity, and even took over a museum floor for a 26-puzzle adventure. Their involvement guaranteed that the Million Dollar Puzzle would be as much about the journey as the destination—a hallmark of both MrBeast’s viral challenges and the alternate reality game (ARG) community.
This wasn’t the only puzzle hunt to hit Super Bowl 60. As ARGNet noted, RedFin also launched a $1 million scavenger hunt during the same event, inviting viewers to solve clues hidden in their own commercial. The trend is clear: brands are increasingly leveraging puzzles and interactive experiences to extend the impact of their Super Bowl ad spends, which this year reportedly topped $10 million for a 30-second slot.
For MrBeast, the campaign was more than just a marketing stunt. With over 466 million subscribers and his Amazon Prime series Beast Games breaking records as the platform’s most-watched unscripted show, Donaldson hardly needs mainstream exposure. Yet, as Wired put it, the Super Bowl marks “a rite of passage into broader pop culture,” introducing him to audiences who may not have encountered his YouTube empire before.
For Salesforce, the gamble seems to be paying off. By positioning Slackbot not just as a workplace tool but as an enabler of viral spectacle, the company is reaching a younger, digitally native audience. The campaign’s success may well influence how other brands approach the intersection of technology, entertainment, and mass participation in the future.
As the Million Dollar Puzzle unfolds, one thing is clear: the boundaries between advertising, entertainment, and audience engagement have never been more porous—or more exciting. Whether the winner emerges from a Reddit thread, a late-night talk show clue, or a real-world adventure remains to be seen. But for now, the world is watching, solving, and talking, all thanks to a Super Bowl ad that dared to turn viewers into players.