The Superbowl
Advertisements I watched
- Decide for Yourself | Church of Scientology
- Bring All The Dad’s Back Home | Israel
- Shop Like A Billionaire | Temu
- Hard Knocks | Dove
- YEEZY | Kanye West
The Super Bowl, is an iconic American tradition, deeply intertwined with consumerism, like many American holidays and events. The sheer magnitude of the Super Bowl’s financial impact is staggering, with an expected nationwide consumer spending of over $16.5 billion and $1.1 billion for the host city. It’s mind-boggling to consider the impact that amount of money could have by redirecting those funds towards pressing issues like homelessness and ensuring food security for those in need
1. Shop Like a Billionaire | Temu
Temu spent around $42 million on Super Bowl ads this year. Temu’s advertisements were characterized by a catchy, upbeat jingle, colorful graphics, and scenes of satisfied customers. But I believe it’s important to shed light on the darker side of Temu, a company that bears striking similarities to Shien. By utilizing drop shipping, Temu offers products at very low prices. Temu can be seen as a questionable counterpart to established platforms like Amazon, with a track record marred by incidents of credit card theft, address, and identity theft, and engagement in other unethical practices like environmental pollution, labor exploitation, lack of transparency, and overall bad business practices…the list goes on.
2. Hard Knocks | Dove
Now, let’s turn our attention to the Dove commercial. This “thought-provoking” ad features a 14-year-old female swimmer standing in front of a mirror, contemplating her appearance, while a statistic reveals that 45% of girls drop out of sports by the age of 14. Dove asserts that this dropout rate stems from a lack of body positivity and values that would encourage girls to persist in sports. It is important to note that Dove has faced criticism for promoting unhealthy narratives around body positivity. Dove is also supportive of male athletes dominating women’s sports spaces. It can be argued that women drop out of sports not solely due to body image concerns, but also because there is often a lack of opportunities available after high school or college. While running clubs or kickball leagues exist in some cities, they are often coed and not specifically for women. If Dove genuinely aims to promote sports and foster communities for women, that would be commendable but cherry-picking statistics to fit a particular positivity narrative? I can’t get behind that.
3. Bring All The Dad’s Back Home
Let’s discuss the ad “Bring All Dads Back Home.” This commercial features a montage of nostalgic film clips showcasing children and their fathers, accompanied by emotional piano music and commentary vowing to reunite all fathers with their families. During the Super Bowl, the Israeli government aired an ad that has been criticized for promoting propaganda. It is important to acknowledge the ongoing conflict in the region, where over 30,000 Palestinian lives have been lost since the war began. While the Israeli government has the financial means to invest in a Super Bowl commercial, thousands of people are suffering, lacking safe places to seek shelter, food, water, and necessities. As this ad aired Israel carried out bombings that impacted over 1.7 million civilians trapped in Rafah, Gaza’s last place of refuge. The juxtaposition between the ability to fund an advertisement during the Super Bowl and the dire circumstances faced by individuals affected by the conflict is deeply unsettling. It prompts us to question whether it is appropriate to allow foreign governments to air propaganda on American television during such a widely viewed event.