When people think of the Superbowl, they think of three things: football, food, and, most importantly, commercials.
Football fans and non-football fans can both appreciate the humorous and touching commercials the Superbowl has become known for. However, this year’s commercials relied on political implications and celebrity appearances, rather than comedy, more than ever.
As popularity of the big game’s commercials have grown, so has the price. An average 30 second slot in Superbowl LI cost a whopping $5 million as compared to the first Superbowl’s $42,000.
Although considering that this game is the only time people actually watch commercials, it might be worth it. The Superbowl, a national event that garners millions of viewers each year, makes for a prime advertising opportunity, even if it comes at a high price.
But, this year’s commercials were underwhelming. Where we usually get silly, light-hearted advertisements such as Mountain Dew’s Puppy Monkey Baby, we received a more serious, politically charged message of immigration and diversity, like those by Google, Coca-Cola and Budweiser. The latter of which prompted a “#BoycottBudweiser” trend on social media platforms.
Although I can understand why it was done and do appreciate the fact that, as one of America’s biggest television events, the commercials reflected the state of our political climate, I don’t believe the Superbowl is the time to express your political views.
We are seeing the same dialogue of immigration, racism, sexism and lack of diversity, across all media, all of the time. While it’s an important one to have, these are the audiences who want to be entertained and put in a good mood, not weighed down by the heavy messages of worn out conversations.
There also seemed to be a prominent reliance on celebrity appearances. From Justin Bieber dancing around for T-Mobile to Christopher Walken reciting NSYNC lyrics on a couch with Justin Timberlake himself, Superbowl LI exhausted all of Hollywood’s best resources.
While celebrity appearances have always been a staple of Superbowl Commercials, unfortunately, the big names of this year seemed to take the place of the usual, more outlandish advertisements.
All in all, this year’s commercials failed to interest me. Luckily, the game was engaging to say the least, so viewers weren’t left to rely on the commercials as their sole source of entertainment.
Here’s to Superbowl LII, in hopes that our country will be in a shape that makes our commercials happy and humorous once again.