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Keith Strudler: The Worst Super Bowl Ads Ever

In the odd chance that your Super Bowl party lacked enough conflict, you will have a bit more to argue about this year. Instead of bickering about which team is better – and let’s face it, most people basically just pick one of the two – now during the game, you can argue about something far more substantial. Like who should be the most powerful person in the world. 

That’s because both Michael Bloomberg and Donald Trump have bought 60 second ad spots to run during the big game, breaking up the barrage of soft drink commercials and movie trailers that grab everyone’s attention in between plays. That means that some 100 million viewers will get a collective two minutes of campaign rhetoric on what some consider America’s biggest holiday.

That ad space will cost each candidate upwards of $10 million, the going rate for air time in one of the only remaining media events that holds a large and captive audience. And certainly one of the few programs in history where people actually tune in to watch the commercials, short but powerful vignettes that often set the annual table for American consumption habits. Perhaps a lengthy dose of Trump vs Bloomberg might change that psychology.

From the perspective of each campaign, it’s probably a pretty decent buy, particularly for two outsized figures already running national campaigns. Beyond the obvious ego push of having your own Super Bowl ad, this allows both candidates to reach huge numbers across geography and ideology and frame that message in the context of an American celebration. The Super Bowl is a whole lot of things, including a football game, but perhaps more than anything it’s a mediated, crafted tale of a young, aggressive, righteous nation filled with heroes and generals, a story that’s built from the first pregame package through the confetti filled victory speech. So particularly as Michael Bloomberg largely ignores the Iowa primary the following day and focuses instead on the national primary of Super Tuesday, promoting himself during Super Bowl Sunday is a smart play. As for Trump, well, his national campaign never really stopped. So this almost feels inevitable.

Political figures, and presidents in particular, are no strangers to Super Bowl broadcasts. It’s been a longstanding tradition for sitting presidents to do an interview that airs during pre-game, something Trump did last year on CBS after declining the same on NBC the year prior. And candidates have bought ad time during other big sporting events, including things like Game 7 of the World Series. So it’s not as if sport has remained completely devoid of political salesmanship. And of course, we all know there’s no real separating sport from politics, starting with the National Anthem.

But yet, this particular ad buy during the Super Bowl feels a bit different, invasive even. More than any other sporting event, and really any other television program, the Super Bowl is consumed not by individuals, but by communities. At a time when media and its social counterpart are increasingly individualized, where more and more people watch on a mobile device with earbuds, the Super Bowl still embodies a sense of togetherness. Where people convene with friends and family and neighbors and use the backdrop of a football game to socialize in world of growing isolation. It is, whether you like it or not, America’s day to party. And even though we build an artificial divide based on which team you cheer for, in reality, the vast majority of viewers come for the beer, nachos, and conversation. Which isn’t a bad thing. I’ll leave common criticisms of football as an American apostle for another time.

So when Donald Trump, and Michael Bloomberg interrupt a rare moment of community with a reminder that at this particular moment, we’re pretty well divided, it’s perhaps more of a kill joy than anyone needs right now. It’ll probably lead to more than a few political arguments at parties and perhaps even dictate which party people attend in the first place. In other words, more of the bifurcation that’s helped us to right where we are.

I’m not suggesting that somehow football is more important than the state of nation, nor the existential threat that continues from the White House. And if Michael Bloomberg can convince people that someone – anyone else than Donald Trump should be in the White House, I’m all for it. I’d just like for there to be 4 hours once a year where we can all get along and maybe remember why we want to be together in the first place. And maybe start the serious business of saving the nation sometime after they hoist the Lombardi trophy.

We won’t have that luxury this year. Which means that if you wanted a bit more drama with your football party, you’re in luck.

Keith Strudler is the Director of the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University. You can follow him on Twitter at @KeithStrudler

The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.

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