This year’s Super Bowl was rather somber, and it’s not just because Tom Brady and the deflators (New England Patriots) defeated the Seattle Seahawks.
Super Bowl XLIX contained advertisements with topics such as domestic abuse and adolescent deaths. Other advertisements had positive messages, but in general they carried a serious tone.
“Really, America?” asked first-year Grace Jones, “Why did the ads have to be so disappointing?”
A lot of good discussion was started because of these ads, and clearly a good amount of thought was put into making them.
While watching the Super Bowl, people often want to forget about what is wrong with the world and simply have fun with friends and family. Some of this year’s ads could have put a damper on this aspect of the biggest game of the year.
Let’s face it, it is not enjoyable to sit in a room and watch ads that make you feel bad about the world you live in.
Aside from that, individuals should recognize that many of these advertisements made important points about issues in society.
The Super Bowl is a great platform to make these issues known. Perhaps the best platform many companies or individuals will have all year.
NBC announced the Monday following the big game that it averaged 114.4 million viewers per minute. That is enough people to fill the seats at Century Link Field 170.7 times.
Fun, creative and often risky ads have always brought in many viewers that would not normally care to watch the National Football League. Meaning, some people gather to watch the Super Bowl just for the advertisements.
Super Bowl advertisements have always come under serious scrutiny. In the past, there have been ads that literally turn women into objects. This year’s advertisements did a better job avoiding themes that perpetuate negative ideas about American society and could help the reputations of broadcasters, the NFL and advertisers.
Overall, it seems to be that the public thought that the ads were too sad. Hopefully in the future, we can return to watching more feel-good ads, which are less provocative.
When in doubt, people love puppies, Doritos, chocolate and Beyoncé. It’s beautiful to imagine an advertisement with all of those things.
In conclusion, although this year’s advertisements were not necessarily happy, they did spark a lot of good discussion.
Let’s hope that advertisers learned from this year’s Super Bowl experience and come back to Super Bowl L with a full arsenal of good ads.
