Monday morning following the spectacle that was the 60th Superbowl allows us to reflect on not only the game and the performances but also the advertisements that populated the sections in between.
Firstly there is the elephant in the room that needs to be addressed and that is the response to the halftime show performer Bad Bunny. As a Puerto Rican woman born and raised in the states I was seeing a popular Puerto Rico artist take the half time stage sounded incredible. It was not his first time on the stage as he previously accompanied Shakira and J-Lo for their half time performance.
The thing is that the current state of the world we live in here in the states lead to some who were upset by Bad Bunny being the artist to take the stage. Many loud voices took to social media to ask and ask for the NFL to select a White “American” artist. I would like to point out that many of the artists that have performed at the Superbowl in years past while some were white were not necessarily American, Bad Bunny is from Puerto Rico which is a US commonwealth where its citizens are American citizens by birth. They went as far as to host a different half time show with artists that fit their narrative of things.
The NFL’s organizers for their part did give the people what they wanted though. They did bring on a white American band to open the Superbowl. It just so happens that the group they picked was Green Day. I will not lie when I say that when I heard that announcement I began to scream and jump for joy. The NFL was sending a message by doing this, one that does not align with the beliefs of certain groups including those currently in power. And this isn’t even a crazy conclusion to jump to when you consider it. Especially when you look at Bad Bunny’s Grammy acceptance speech with him starting by saying “ICE out!” but also saying “We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens, We are humans and we are Americans.” and if this was not enough to convince you that part of the NFL was trying to send a message I would urge you to look up the lyrics to the three songs Green day sang; which were Holiday, Boulevard of Broken Dream, and American Idiot in that order for any wondering.
But enough about the performances in the PR sense during the game the main thing people look forward to during the event, outside of the spectacles of the game itself and performances, is the ads. The bowl is a primetime event for many companies to take a crack at drawing in potential consumers. Many will post ads on social media the day after in reference to the game but during the games many companies pay big money to get into those ad blocks. Though watching the ads which is always a treat to me felt like a bit of a drag this year. Most of the ads felt bland and borderline soulless, others were not trying. The main ads that I enjoyed wound up being the State Farm insurance ad, the Lays ads, the Budweiser ad (but that’s because my mom likes the Clydesdales), and the ad for the ongoing winter Olympics. The State Farm ad in particular did what a lot of the ads seemed to do this year which was play on nostalgia and use popular figures. Now I will never complain about hearing Jon Bon Jovi. I grew up with my mom playing his music so of course I found the ad enjoyable, I just found it got a bit annoying when every other ad was playing to this throwback feel. There was also the abundance of Draft Kings ads which are rather annoying in my personal opinion as often they can lead to people getting into bad gambling habits that they may not be able to break out of. Outside of these which felt rather lackluster after a bit there were the ads that felt soulless, likely because they were made by something without one. The amount of AI ads and ads about AI made me want to do something drastic. I have never been one to like AI. I pride myself on being able to be a creative person who can make real things, so most will understand my vitriolic disdain for AI programs. There are also many individuals who share similar sentiments. These ads fall flat with many audience members and while for some the ad placement may bring it some good PR and revenue for their companies, others like the ad for the Vodka brand SVEDKA will not only be a waste in ad money but also cost the company people who would have considered purchasing from them.
And so I wanna leave things there. Congratulations to the Seattle Seahawks for an amazing and historic victory. I can’t wait to see them do their ad with Disney in the coming days. Thank you to Bad Bunny for putting on a performance that I will never stop talking about going forward. And Thank you to the NFL’s organizers for sending what to me felt like a rather clear message against the current powers at hand without outright saying anything. I will likely be making memes about this but hey it’s free PR for them and it makes them look good so I don’t think they will complain about that too much.