The Big Game Commercials Were Not Good
Between cameo-infested celebrity spots to Artificial Intelligence (AI) sports gambling dumpster fires, this year’s Super Bowl ads were somewhere in between disappointing and horrible.
Our main categories were mostly AI, sports gambling, GLP-1 medications, and your standard corporation celebrity-filled product placement ads (with blending of each one on numerous occasions). I tend to lean most negatively on the AI ads because I don’t think they serve much purpose to those watching. The products that were pushed through these ads (AI.com, Base44, Genspark, etc.) are not products that the everyday person is likely to use. These only help to either fuel tech-minded people’s biases around the need to have it funded or reaffirm the biases of those staunchly against AI.
Sports betting ads are a staple of everyday television, especially on channels like ESPN or CBS sports. These will be around far longer than they should, so long as the industry still wants money. It only helps to fuel the addiction of those most in need of help and strikes a base that does not need any more reason to waste more time on apps like FanDuel or DraftKings.
The GLP-1 ads only add to the growing discomfort and body dysmorphia people are feeling right now, especially as Trump’s cabinet pushes for a “fitter America,” building severe prejudice against those who are struggling with their weight, adding endless guilt, built into their television screens.
Finally, the mess of random ads for staple companies like State Farm, Lays, and Uber Eats were largely boring and uninteresting, with ads like Pepsi’s actually working against their brand. Overall this was an extremely difficult round of commercials to sit through. My hope going forward is that the National Football League and TV broadcasters can learn from feedback from America’s viewers and cut back on the things that we do not wish to see during one of the biggest nights for advertising all year.
