Super Bowl LIV Ads Analysis: A Multicultural Perspective from C+R Research Experts

As 1 of every 6 American residents is Latino, it’s no surprise that the NFL aimed to appeal to the largest growing minority fan base at this year’s Super Bowl LIV halftime show in Miami by having two Latina headliners and an all-Latin musical experience for the first time in its history. One would think that advertisers would’ve taken advantage of this opportunity by including more Latino-centric ads to cater to this growing population; however, the majority of this year’s campaigns played it safe with humorous commercials with various actors and TV personalities that could appeal to a large audience, hoping to steer clear of controversy presumably because it is an election year. Still, a few ads stood out from the rest – the Sabra Hummus LGBTQ-inclusive ad featuring drag stars for the first time in Super Bowl ad history, and Olay’s ad which included a diverse cast of women of different ages and backgrounds, with the promise of donating to an organization that promotes helping women interested in STEM for every #MakeSpaceForWomen tweet. By Cynthia Nuñez Schaffer, Senior Research Analyst, CultureBeat™ & LatinoEyes®.

High-budget Super Bowl commercials mean more high-profile celebrities, and this year, among them were several LGBTQ celebrities. Lil Nas X danced off for Doritos; Lilly Singh went to space; and Jonathan Van Ness introduced new flavors of Pop-Tarts. While that’s more LGBTQ representation than commercials usually feature (since most only show straight couples and families, or sexuality is irrelevant), unless you already knew that these celebrities identify as LGBTQ, nothing about the content of the commercials themselves stood out as notably queer. The Sabra hummus ad did feature a couple of drag queens, and married couple Ellen DeGeneres & Portia de Rossi wondered what life was like before Alexa; but that was the extent of queer content. Microsoft’s ad championed Katie Sowers as the first woman NFL coach in the Super Bowl, but she’s also the first lesbian coach in the NFL and the first lesbian to coach in the Super Bowl, and those milestones were completely unmentioned. Notably, there were several ads this year that focused on what all people have in common. Budweiser’s Typical American ad focused on positive generalizations about Americans, Snickers brought everyone together to fix the world, and TurboTax claimed everyone could be a tax person. While these ads all featured a diverse group of people of all ages and ethnicities, they also all lacked any clear indicators of the LGBTQ community – despite the LGBTQ community’s strong buying power, and even when brands are trying to appeal to everyone, most companies still aren’t thinking about their LGBTQ consumers. By Anna Rossi, Senior Research Analyst, CultureBeat™ & LatinoEyes®.