Die kaputten USA und der Super Bowl

Huahahaha.

Die wichtigste Sportveranstaltung der USA ist der Super Bowl, wo bekanntlich die wichtigste und teuerste Werbung geschaltet und in der Halbzeitpause die abgefahrenste Show abgezogen wird, von Michael Jackson bis zu Wardrobe Malfunction.

Dieses Jahr haben gleich eine ganze Reihe von Firmen abgesagt und keine Werbung geschaltet – weil sie nicht mehr wissen, wie man in den USA noch Werbung machen könnte, ohne die Hälfte der Bevölkerung gegen sich aufzubringen.

“For the Super Bowl, you generally go big or go home. I think brands are going home rather than spending tens of millions of dollars and not getting it right. They’re saying, ‘Let’s wait until this s—storm clears.’”

The most recent brand to pass on Super Bowl LV is beverage giant Coca-Cola, which has run an ad during the closely watched football game every year since 2006 — except in 2019, when it aired a pre-game ad instead.

“This difficult choice was made to ensure we are investing in the right resources during these unprecedented times,” Coca-Cola said.

Also out are Hyundai, Olay, Avocados From Mexico, Little Caesars and Ford.

Es ist nicht mehr möglich, als reiches Unternehmen und Werbetreibender der Öffentlichkeit per Werbung Sportveranstaltungen zu finanzieren. Egal, was man noch bringt, irgendwer ist immer beleidigt und shitstormt:

Meanwhile, brands that take the plunge are expected to tread carefully given the divided political climate, the pandemic and both the Black Lives Matter and MeToo movements.

“Every client conversation I’ve had these days is about who is going to be offended by this ad,” said Rob Schwartz, chief executive officer of ad agency TBWA\Chiat\Day. “There’s a lot of discussion about risk mitigation. What that tends to do is that it makes things very bland and not effective or it forces you to look at universal topics like hope or humor.”

Oberlander agreed. “The country is so divided and split right down the middle that I don’t think that there’s a commercial that will appease both sides.”

He pointed to Gillette’s 2019 Super Bowl spot, which riffed on its longtime slogan, “The Best a Man Can Get,” by asking the question: “Is this the best a man can get?” The ad showed boys bullying each other and men touching women’s shoulders during a business meeting.

It was meant to address toxic masculinity and the MeToo movement, but instead ruffled feathers. Pepsi also suffered backlash in its nod to the Black Lives Matter movement with a 2017 Super Bowl ad starring Kendall Jenner, which was criticized as trivializing.

Eine kaputte Gesellschaft.