Super Bowl Sunday commercials, halftime show are middle ground for football fans, cynics

Though the Super Bowl attracts an audience of enthusiastic football fans, the commercials and halftime show bring in an audience of their own. Photo collage by SIMRAH AHMAD, Staff Photographer

For many people, watching football on a Sunday afternoon with a cold beer in one hand and a hotdog in the other is the pinnacle of happiness. However, there are just as many individuals who groan at the sight of middle-aged men running across a field and would much rather watch a different form of entertainment.

Once a year, both of these parties can find a middle ground: Super Bowl Sunday. Although the big football game is the main hoorah, the Super Bowl is also known for silly skit-like commercials and a halftime spectacle. 

The commercials are known for featuring A-list celebrities, which usually creates a large buzz around the company afterwards. Unfortunately, brands seemed to lack their typical creativity this year when making advertisements, and many fans were disappointed.

“Companies want to go all out for their commercials (for the Super Bowl) because there's a bigger audience than there almost ever is,” said Rohan Chhabra, a sophomore communication studies major. “(But this year), I don’t feel like there is as much hype around them. People aren’t talking about as much as they usually do. There weren't as many celebrity cameos or interesting ideas as there might have been in years prior.” 

Although many commercials may have lacked celebrities, one advertisement still coined the title for most memorable: Coinbase — a cryptocurrency company — created a commercial where a QR code was shown on the screen, as it bounced around like the old DVD logo for the entirety of the commercial. 

This aspect gave the commercial a nostalgic feel, tempting people to pull out their phones and scan the code. After scanning, viewers would be linked to Coinbase’s website and promoted to sign up by Feb. 15 in order to receive $15 in free bitcoin. 

According to Kate Rouch, CMO of Coinbase, the company reported seeing over 20 million visits on their page in one minute. This actually led to their site momentarily crashing, considering they had never received such a high volume of interaction.

“I thought (the commercial) was pretty funny, because when we were younger, DVDs had the logo that goes around,” Chhabra said. “Everyone always talks about how, ‘Oh, it doesn't always hit the corner.’ But when it does, it's super cool. I remember very distinctly that the QR code hit the corner.”

According to the New York Post, a fan favorite Super Bowl commercial from this year included Uber Eats’ “Uber Don’t Eats” which featured Jennifer Coolidge, Gwyneth Paltrow and other celebrities taking a bite out of household items such as diapers and candles simply because they deemed them edible since they were delivered with Uber Eats. 

Another favorite was Amazon Alexa’s video with “Saturday Night Live” comedian Colin Jost and actress Scarlett Johansson. The celebrity couple imagined what life would be like if Alexa could read their minds and voice aloud, which mostly consisted of each partner internally making fun of the other before being exposed.

Max Collins, a junior graphic design major, told The Panther his favorite commercial this year was Bud Light’s “Flavortown'' advertisement for their new spiked sodas, featuring Guy Fieri. Collins said the commerical’s ability to grab viewers’ attention is the key to promotional success. Collins also said in years prior he had loved the ‘Bud Knight’ series, and was disappointed it was not brought back this year.

“(It’s important to) have a series (of commercials continue) throughout each Super Bowl,” Collins said. “(If a company has) a commercial that’s successful, bringing it to the next Super Bowl is really crucial.”

In addition to commercial buzz, the halftime show brought in praise from around the country. Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige and Eminem hit the stage and gave the audience a nostalgic throwback to the most popular hip-hop songs of the 90s. 

Yasmine Bari, a freshman sociology major, said she loved the performance and the artists’ presence on stage.

“(All the performers) had equal time (on stage),” Bari said. “I didn’t feel like anybody was better than the other person. In past halftime shows, if there are artists being featured, (one performer) steals the show. But in this one, I felt like everybody really got a chance to shine.” 

In addition to being entertaining, Bari said the halftime show also did a great job of amplifying Black performers such as Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg and Mary J. Blige. White rapper Eminem was also featured, who chose to kneel during the performance in solidarity with Black athletes — specifically Colin Kaepernick, who is known for taking a knee during the national anthem in 2016.

“(The producers) didn't want to make the halftime show political (and told Eminem to not kneel during his performance),” Bari said. “But at the very end, he took a knee. I feel like when it comes down to it, it's always about politics. It was very subtle. They knew what they were doing without explicitly saying, ‘We are making a political message.’”

Whether someone decides to take a bathroom break during the commercials or the actual game, throughout the years, the Super Bowl has always been a day where people can come together and celebrate football and great entertainment.