By Brittany Webb, Sports Editor and Darnell Dinkins, Contributing Writer
Posted 3:45 PM EST, Fri., Feb. 10, 2017
While actual football fans tune in to the Super Bowl to watch the game and cheer on their favorite team or cheer against their team’s rival, some people tune in for the entertainment ranging from the anticipated and costly commercials to the half-time show.
Over the years, the commercials have been memorable. In 1984, an Apple commercial aired introducing the Macintosh Computer to the public for the first time; today, the company is a leading brand in the technology realm. Over time, companies realized the positive effects that a good commercial can have on their company’s brand, despite the charge of 5 million dollars for a 30-second commercial. It can be assumed that for such a hefty price, companies will put out some of their greatest advertisements.
This year’s commercials included a clever romantic Skittles commercial, Bud Light’s revival of the ghost of Spud’s McKenzie geared towards persons who don’t drink Bud Light and the trailers for upcoming movie releases for “Logan,” “Transformers” and “Fast 8.” However, every commercial wasn’t light-hearted or entertaining.
A Budweiser commercial, highlighting the immigration story of founder Adolphus Busch, has received backlash. In lieu of recent immigration disputes and questionable laws in America, the airing and theme of the commercial were seen as inappropriate to some viewers, seeing it as an attack on President Donald Trump’s policies. The company defended the ad saying it was in the works before Trump signed his Executive Order calling for an immigration ban, and it was intended to “highlight the ambition of our founder, Adolphus Busch, and his unrelenting pursuit of the American dream.”
The ad led to the birth of the #BoycottBudwiser hashtags on Twitter, which was later corrected to #BoycottBudweiser.
https://twitter.com/AngeloJohnGage/status/828588506100408321
Responding to the people with twitter fingers, were the supporters of immigration and freedom for all persons. Also defending the commercial, its intentions and human rights was halftime headliner, Lady Gaga.
After having taken some time off from music to focus on acting, Lady Gaga was selected to perform during this year’s halftime show, with mounting pressure to live up to the standard that Beyonce set during last year’s show. As Beyonce did last year, Gaga used her 13-minute segment to address controversy in America.
Before singing a medley of singles including “Just Dance,” “Bad Romance,” “Telephone” and “Born this Way,” Gaga, dressed in a silver bodysuit with matching boots, kicked off her performance from the roof of NGR stadium, singing a rendition of “God Bless America” and “This Land is Your Land” before being lowered down into the stadium to sing her hit “Poker Face.”
Gaga’s selection of “This Land is Your Land” to be apart of her set, let alone to begin it, was, possibly, the most graceful protest and statement of political beliefs that could have been expected. The song was originally Woody Guthrie’s protest song, which, according to Yahoo, he wrote while paying rent to Trump’s father. His daughter says he wrote the song as a “document of his journey as a poor man in search of a better life.”
That is the story of many immigrants and refugees who travel to America from their homeland, in hopes of giving their families a better opportunity and freedom.
“There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me.
The sign was painted, said ‘private property.’
But on the backside it didn’t say nothing.
This land was made for you and me.”- fourth verse of the original “This Land is Your Land”
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