14 DAY TRIAL // What better time to get political than when millions of people are watching, right? That’s what companies ordering their Super Bowl ads thought too, and many of them chose to target Donald Trump and his “bigly” ideas on how to run the country.
While the official numbers are not yet in, it was expected that the Super Bowl this past Sunday would attract over 100 million people in front of their screens, with the record of 114 million set as the target.
This year, many companies have fought for a spot in the halftime break, where a 30-second post cost over $5 million on average, according to some sources. That means that whatever ideas these companies portrayed in their spots must have been heavily thought out. What many didn’t think would happen is that these companies would choose to go political and to subtly, or not so subtly, attack President Trump, his Administration and the ideas that got them elected.
Budweiser
Budweiser is one of the companies that always sends a message through their clips. This one is pretty clear since it starts off with “You don’t look like you’re from around here.”
The politically charged ad from Budweiser has been causing a stir since it was revealed last week. While the Budweiser owners deny the ad was created with political intent, the parallels are hard to miss. The spot tells the story of Adolphus Busch, albeit fictionalized. He left Germany for America back in the 1850s to follow his dreams. Once he hits America, he faces loads of hostility from the locals, but that does not deter him. In the end, he creates Anheuser- Busch, Budweiser’s owners, after he meets his partner in what was to become one of the largest beer-making companies in the world.
84 Lumber
This particular ad was considered to be so controversial they cut off its ending on TV. Due to this hard-to-understand decision, people clamored to the 84Lumber.com website to see it whole, without the censorship, which led to the site actually going down because it was unfit to handle so much traffic. Thanks to YouTube, however, the day was saved, and people could watch this touching story.
What is it about? Well, it’s about a Mexican mother and daughter, making their way across the country to reach the United States. Once there, however, they come across a border wall - and if that’s not a hint at Trump, we don’t know what is. There’s a happy ending, however, since there’s a door in the fence, which they can enter easily. “The will to succeed is always welcome here,” the ad ends.
Of course, the ad people saw on TV actually featured a barbed-wire fence instead of the concrete wall much like the one Trump wants to build, because the ad was considered to be too political. It did, however, feature an invite to view the original, un-censored version, which is how the site went down.
Google went subtle this time and attached an interesting topic without actually poking Trump too much - diversity. In its Google Home ad, the company presents people of varied backgrounds and sexual orientations, even the rainbow pride flag. It includes people looking to spend time together, families gathering, meeting new people and learning new languages to make them feel more at home.
Airbnb
Perhaps one of the most political ads comes from Airbnb. Featuring faces of people from all types of ethnicities, the ad pushes everyone to accept others the way they are. “We believe no matter who you are, where you’re from, who you love, or who you worship, we all belong. The world is more beautiful the more you accept,” reads the text appearing on the screen.
Coca-Cola
This time, Coca-Cola chose to recycle. Instead of spending money on a new ad, Coke felt like the most appropriate thing to do this time around was to re-air a controversial ad they released in 2014 for the Super Bowl where “America the Beautiful” is sung in multiple languages. Once more, this is an effort to show that diversity is not something to be afraid of.
The moral of all this is that companies will fight against discrimination, racism and outlandish ideas that are a far reach from what most people consider the country to stand for. While many of these ads were thought-out and created months before, it’s clear that they are more than valid in today’s America.