If you just crawled out from under a rock and turned on Fox last night, you might have thought you were witnessing a presentation sponsored by the United Nations, instead of the Super Bowl. We weren’t treated to “We are the World,” but there was no shortage of advertisements pressing Americans to go the way of the world.
The liberal ads this year ran the gamut from preachy to silly, from illegal immigration to environmentalism. Here’s a rundown on some of the more ridiculous commercials that stood out:
AirBnB: We Accept (Those Affected By That Mean Old Trump)
This 30-second commercial features the words: “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.” The visuals are the faces of people from all different kinds of ethnicities.
SBNation reports if it isn’t clear from the spot itself, the message becomes clearer in light of Airbnb’s CEO’s Twitter response to Donald Trump’s travel ban on people from seven mostly Muslim countries:
Airbnb is providing free housing to refugees and anyone not allowed in the US. Stayed tuned for more, contact me if urgent need for housing
— Brian Chesky (@bchesky) January 29, 2017
The real message of the ad: "We accept," if you agree with us.
84 Lumber: The Will to Succeed Exceeds U.S. Immigration Law
The language is Español, so those not fluent in Spanish don’t what’s being said. They see a mother and her young daughter from south of the border looking at photographs of their loved ones as they prepare to leave their home. The two walk up the street and climb into the back of a truck, where others are waiting. Later they walk along a fence line marked by tissues. They brave pouring rain, rivers, desert heat and hop a train. Then flashes this message: "See the conclusion at Journey84.com 84 Lumber."
Continuing the story at that website, the mother and young daughter walk through the desert and come along a construction site where a nice workman offers them water. The video switches back and forth between the two people and the construction workers. And then mother and daughter see it – a huge, imposing wall at the U.S. border. (Thanks to the heartless President Trump, of course!) At first they are heartbroken. But they walk along the wall and come to a door. It’s unlocked and they joyfully pass through into America. Finally, you see the construction worker driving home from the worksite and here comes the moral to this lawless story: “The will to succeed is always welcome here.” 84 Lumber’s site crashed after the ad ran.
What you have just seen is the use of sentiment and emotion to excuse illegal immigration – a felony. What you did not see is the flood of people, some smuggling drugs, coyotes smuggling humans, walking around our ports of entry to flaunt our immigration laws.
Is 84 Lumber advocating for the hiring of illegals as well? Maybe the feds should look into this company’s hiring records.
Coca Cola: Give Me Your Poor, Your Tired, Your Huddled Masses … But Don’t Assimilate
America the Beautiful is a beloved song celebrating our great land and legacy. But to Coca Cola, it’s “the real thing” when sung in numerous languages - no word on whether any of these other languages wedged in the word "sisterhood" as other performers did at the Super Bowl. This updated version of a past commercial shows people of various ethnicities, in different settings, singing the song in several different languages. The message ends: “Coca Cola: Together is Beautiful.” So evidently, we’re supposed to come together, have a Coke and instead of assimilating, we just stick to our own native languages. Assimilation is “not the real thing” we and our ancestors thought it was.
Audi: Women Are Worth Less Than Men
This bizarre ad shows a father watching his daughter race go-carts, while wondering if he should tell her that her grandfather is worth more than her grandmother, her dad is worth more than her mom, and that she will automatically be valued as less than every man she ever meets. Um, no?
The ad only begins to make sense when you realize they are shilling for "equal pay for equal work," as if it hadn't already been signed into law in 1963. Maybe instead the father should teach his daughter that her "value" and "worth" is so much more than her paycheck.
Ironically, it is because many women value other things more than money - flexible hours, vacation time, a comfortable workspace, for example - that explains most of the so-called pay gap. But let's not talk about that, let's promote this false choice of either tilting at the equal pay windmill or telling our daughters they are worthless.
50 Shades of T-Mobile
T-Mobile somehow thought it would be a good idea to put up ads based on the sexually explicit book and movie trilogy 50 Shades of Grey. Just what every parent wants while watching the Super Bowl with their children - a 30-second mock S&M scene, complete with whips and breathy sighs. As if that weren't enough, then came a full minute ad of a woman mimicking phone sex with a Verizon customer service operator because she likes the pain -"Am I gonna get punished?" she asks. Then there are the moans of pleasure we hear emanating from the phone. #NSFWireless? More like NSFSuperBowl.
Kia: Eco-Warrior
Comedienne Melissa McCarthy sets out to be an "eco-warrior" in this Kia ad that has her out saving the whales, trees, polar ice caps, and rhinos. McCarthy is funny in it as the stereotypical tree-hugging environmentalist wacko, but her causes are lame and discredited.
10 Haircare: New President, Bad Hair Days Ahead
This short ad warns us: We’re in for at least four years … (of Trump’s horrible presidency?) No! Of awful hair (hint: like Trump’s!) Make sure you use 10 HairCare. Do your part.
What do you think - which were the best and worst ads of the Super Bowl? Tell us in the comments below!
