I was under the impression that I hadn’t sat down and watched a Super Bowl in around 6 years, though by my parent’s reckoning, that should probably be more akin to “ever”. This is a part of society I’ve always felt somewhat detached from; I’ve never really gotten into sports, and while the advertisements are interesting, some even thrilling (more on that later), I wouldn’t exactly choose to just watch a few hours of television for marketing alone. That being said, there’s a lot to unpack in the Super Bowl marketing extravaganza.

111+ million people supposedly watch the Super Bowl every year according to Sports Illustrated. To call it a cultural event for this country is somewhat of an understatement – a third of the country turns out to watch two teams, teams that physically cannot be associated with the geographic location of most viewers, and celebrate the sport. And with that many eyes and ears on a television screen, companies and corporations will pay upwards of 7 million USD, again, according to Sports Illustrated, for a 30 second spot. That’s over 6 cents per person per ad! It’s a juggernaut of marketing – but not necessarily something to be cynical about, though certainly it’s worth looking at deeper. And that brings me to what I find most interesting about the whole Super Bowl phenomenon.

“I’m not interested in the game, but I do like the ads!” and similar sentiments are something I hear frequently from peers. The game itself, to some, is less important than the advertising. Like the national anthem, the gambling, and the flyovers, the marketing as well have started to, and by some individual’s reckoning already has, overtaken the sport itself. This is eerily similar to a lot of other cultural gatherings in America, such as conventions, where what was original a celebration of a hobby, sport, or something else has been co-opted by the marketing around it, and that marketing has taken over, in some cases quite subtly, and become itself the main event. Though I said before I won’t get too cynical. I could critique neoliberalism any time, though today it might be hypocritical. When my mom asked me to cheer for a team, I said I was “cheering for the Millennium Falcons.” I’ll be seeing “Solo: A Star Wars Story” at my earliest convenience, so Disney’s gotten their 6 cents worth through my viewing.