It is undeniable that this past season has been one of the most political the NFL has seen in a while — if ever. Colin Kaepernick’s protests of the national anthem, Tom Brady’s tacit support for Donald Trump, and players’ responses to the election are just a few of the ways America’s political climate has taken over the world of football. Super Bowl LI was merely the backdrop for a wide range of great commercials broadcasting messages about America’s inclusiveness, diversity, and of course, Trump’s hair.
For those of you who missed it — a Budweiser commercial relayed the story of company co-founder Adolphus Busch, who traveled as a young man from Germany to Saint Louis in 1857 in an attempt to make a life for himself here in the United States. Sound familiar? While the company may have stated their intent to remain apolitical, their ad featuring an American immigrant striving to overcome rampant xenophobia to achieve the American dream has some pretty serious ties to the current American political climate. Of course, the ad generated quite a bit of backlash from home-grown, Budweiser-drinking Trump supporters who are now threatening to boycott the beer. Ah, how easy life must be when the only thing you’re concerned about boycotting is an alcoholic beverage.
Coca-Cola brought back their 2014 Super Bowl ad, which features people singing a multilingual version of “America the Beautiful.” In a country lead by a president who has recently banned immigration from several countries, this ad developed an entirely different, but completely appropriate meaning compared to that of when it first aired.
But a Super Bowl awash in political undertones is interesting in itself. How is it that commercials and halftime shows are sometimes capable of speaking to the political climate and reaching peoples’ homes better than any stories a regular news media outlet could run? The fact is, as the American people, we remain largely driven by our favorite forms of entertainment; and both athletes and actors are consciously aware of this fact, which is why they use their career platforms as a way to get their messages across. Which is fine, to an extent. They are in the public eye and should use that spotlight to convey their personal opinions.
But I think we as a nation have gotten ourselves into a bit of snag when it comes to news and entertainment. When we stop caring about important things — like a presidential race or immigration policies — and turn our attention solely to what we consider entertainment (like a big football game for example), we lose sight of the long term policies and ideas that will affect our lives for much longer than the outcome of a Super Bowl. It’s perfectly fine to take a break from all the heavy stuff to prop your feet up and watch Tom Brady throw around a football, but it is downright unacceptable to think that you can just sit back and watch some classic American sports and let everyone else make the big decisions that affect the entire country.
