SUPERBOWL SUNDAY

FYI: The only reason I watch Superbowl is to check out the ads. Fun fact: Until this year, I didn't know Superbowl was about about football.

That aside, I knew this year's Superbowl ads were going to be interesting given the political climate in the country right now. We were told several times at agencies as well as in class that brands were going to try to take advantage of the political environment to take a stand in order to appeal to their market and that is pretty much exactly what we saw - a lot!

Perhaps one of the ads that was discussed the most is the Budweiser commercial. 

The commercial follows the journey of Budweiser's founder - an immigrant from Germany in the 1800s. Once he sets foot in American soil, he is met with disdain and made to feel uninvited. Despite the setbacks, the man overcomes and manages to build the Budweiser empire. 

His story is extremely relevant in the current political context, where 'immigrant' is made to seem like a dirty word. Truth be told, America has been enriched by countless immigrants with big dreams similar to himself - I mean, Elon Musk is an immigrant! America is pretty darn lucky to have him if you ask me. 

However, the commercial was met with backlash from Trump supporters who perceived it to be taking a dig at Donald Trump's political position on immigration. There were several tweets on those saying that they disagreed on Budweiser's position and that 'they wanted LEGAL immigration' - fair, but I don't understand the hate. In my opinion, Budweiser wasn't trying to take a political stand, but rather, was sending out a positive message that ambitious, driven people (including immigrants) add value to the American economy and society. 

The good news for Budweiser is that a lot more people positively aligned themselves with the message than otherwise. Besides, it might make little difference to Budweiser in terms of sales considering how much Americans love their Buds (Trump supporters included)! 

84 Lumber's commercial is also one with a huge political message. Interestingly it was also a commercial that received backlash from both democrats as well as the republicans.

The commercial follows the journey of a mother and her daughter as they embark on the long and arduous journey of trying to cross the border in pursuit of the American Dream. When they finally they approach the border, they are greeted by The Wall and are torn apart with despair. 

But their journey doesn't end. They find a huge door on the wall and it opens to let them in. The commercial ends with the slogan, 'The will to succeed is always welcome here'. 

I personally liked the commercial - although I can see how it might have been confusing to a lot of people. The leftists assumed that it endorses the idea of The Wall whereas the right-wing came to assume that it promoted illegal immigration. 

For me, the ad came across as very middle-ground. 'The will to succeed is always welcome here' but it has to be done through the legal channels aka The Door. Sadly, for many that door doesn't open as easily as it does in the commercial - may be that is for the best, but, may be if only the door had a little more compassion in some cases, may be if only the door could know who has the will to succeed. If only. 

Overall the Superbowl ads and their reactions summed up the mood of all factions of the American society - and that's at least a good thing representation wise, HA!