Dave and I, who currently live in Mexico, threw a Super Bowl party for Americans whose teams had been eliminated, which led to the KC Chiefs vs. Philadelphia Eagles matchup. The excitement surrounding this event, not only for the game but also for the commercials and entertainment during the interval, had many expecting great things.
Maybe it’s that we are old, but we were disappointed. Some ads asked us to “scan the code” that appeared on the screen. We had no idea what (if anything) we were buying. Others were classic non sequiturs; Hellman’s mayonnaise really wanted us to eat people chilling in the fridge?
Advertisers spent $7 million on each 30-second advertisement. Today I ran into a viewer who made this comment: “Apparently, all that money went to hiring famous actors and not paying writers to come up with something creative.” David Warschawski of the “Baltimore Business Journal” agrees: “So many brands rely on the celebrity cache to try to impress and win new customers, but that’s far from enough. Making yourself laugh or being silly or just putting in a celebrity isn’t it’s great advertising.
Please bring back the Clydesdales.
That said, there have been some commercials that I have enjoyed such as the “Jesus Gets Us” commercials, albeit attacked by the left – who claim Jesus would never forgive spending millions on a Super Bowl commercial – and by the right who claim than showing refugees defends border crisis However, even our atheist friends appreciated the ingenuity of these ads that were, at least, understandable.
The Jesus Gets Us campaign, which first launched in March 2022, is run by the “Servant Foundation”, a non-profit organization based in Overland Park, Kansas. Jason Vanderground, the ad’s spokesman, responded to the criticism: “The goal is for the two spots to not only inspire those who may be skeptical of Christianity to ask questions and learn more about Jesus, but also encourage Christians to live their faith even better and show the same confused love and forgiveness that Jesus modeled.”
They want to reach as many people as they can for Christ.
I love it about their commercials. We all need to talk more about Jesus. Even if we are criticized.
As for the Super Bowl halftime show, we were left scratching our heads. Again, maybe we can blame our age. What did the dancers in the puffy white costumes represent? Marshmallows? Zombie? Hazmat suits? Eskimos? Crappy costumes left over from some UFO show? Give me a college marching band every day. Better yet, give me a team of inspiring praise and worship. At least then I could have shared that time with my family. Rihanna’s behavior was far from child-friendly.
That probably sounds weird, but I started wondering what would happen if Jesus appeared during the Super Bowl halftime performance. Who would attract more attention? Would the screaming and adoring fans still think Rihanna’s inappropriate grip deserved their adulation and be disappointed that Jesus interrupted their idol’s performance? Or would this be the wake-up call everyone needs?
I pray it’s the latter… but I have my doubts.
