Every year, millions of people around the world gather around
televisions to watch the biggest sports spectacle in the United
States—the Super Bowl. It attracts diehards, fair-weathers, the
disinterested and the curious alike, but it's not simply to watch the
two best teams in the NFL compete for the championship.
No, it's also to watch the commercials.
Now, I get it, and I'm not trying to tell people what they can and cannot enjoy. If it's the one time per year that your Aunt Milly or whoever watches professional football because the commercials are an attraction, then so be it.
However, the allure of what happens between the commercials has fallen by the wayside. The Super Bowl, after all, is about football.
Of course, it is the most-watched television event of the year, and the networks would be moronic if they failed to exploit the unbelievable piles of money to be made off it.
Advertising agencies, car manufacturers and soda companies can attract themselves a slew of new customers and fans by broadcasting a memorable commercial during the game. It's a tradition that's been around since the 1970s and one that picked up serious steam in the 1990s.
However, the bottom line is that they are still commercials, the bane of every football fan's existence.
The fact that companies have spent millions of dollars and hours of research and production on their advertising for this one game doesn't make up for the fact that the Super Bowl has become a ridiculously drawn-out affair. Teams are forced to start and stop their play at the behest of the broadcaster, ultimately affecting the momentum of the game.
NFL fans spend a ton of money every year to purchase the Sunday Ticket package or the Red Zone channel. This is not just to see all the football they desire (which is a fantastic thing, might I add) but also to avoid the barrage of commercials that come at every timeout, every injury, after every punt, kickoff and score.
Those television timeouts double—or triple, it seems—during the Super Bowl, to the point where it's hard to remember which team had the ball when the game went to commercials.
Obviously, there is a solution to this problem. You could DVR the game. However, let's be serious, that's not an option. That's a joke, or it's something you begrudgingly do because you are unable to access a television when the game is live.
The Super Bowl commercials are inescapable, and it's the thing most people end up talking about the next day. While this is a nation chock-full of NFL fans, it might be shocking to realize that more people don't care about the goings-on in the Super Bowl than those who do.
However, I simply want football. I want to see two teams playing as hard as they can to earn a Lombardi Trophy and I want it with as few interruptions as possible.
This is the last football we will all see for quite a few months, and it's frustrating to think that we will in fact be seeing more ads than we will actual action.
So, please, watch the commercials, be entertained by them, even. However, for the love of football, please don't cheer louder or feel more moved by what happens in the breaks than what the New York Giants and New England Patriots manage to accomplish on the field.
We're here for football, are we not? Without the Super Bowl, there wouldn't be these commercials. And the Super Bowl is a football game, not a mere platform for advertisers to showcase their master works.
This is our last chance to enjoy what is one of the most amazing things in the world (no, I'm not being hyperbolic); commercials will be there on Monday, but football won't. Enjoy the game.
No, it's also to watch the commercials.
Now, I get it, and I'm not trying to tell people what they can and cannot enjoy. If it's the one time per year that your Aunt Milly or whoever watches professional football because the commercials are an attraction, then so be it.
However, the allure of what happens between the commercials has fallen by the wayside. The Super Bowl, after all, is about football.
Of course, it is the most-watched television event of the year, and the networks would be moronic if they failed to exploit the unbelievable piles of money to be made off it.
Advertising agencies, car manufacturers and soda companies can attract themselves a slew of new customers and fans by broadcasting a memorable commercial during the game. It's a tradition that's been around since the 1970s and one that picked up serious steam in the 1990s.
However, the bottom line is that they are still commercials, the bane of every football fan's existence.
The fact that companies have spent millions of dollars and hours of research and production on their advertising for this one game doesn't make up for the fact that the Super Bowl has become a ridiculously drawn-out affair. Teams are forced to start and stop their play at the behest of the broadcaster, ultimately affecting the momentum of the game.
NFL fans spend a ton of money every year to purchase the Sunday Ticket package or the Red Zone channel. This is not just to see all the football they desire (which is a fantastic thing, might I add) but also to avoid the barrage of commercials that come at every timeout, every injury, after every punt, kickoff and score.
Those television timeouts double—or triple, it seems—during the Super Bowl, to the point where it's hard to remember which team had the ball when the game went to commercials.
Obviously, there is a solution to this problem. You could DVR the game. However, let's be serious, that's not an option. That's a joke, or it's something you begrudgingly do because you are unable to access a television when the game is live.
The Super Bowl commercials are inescapable, and it's the thing most people end up talking about the next day. While this is a nation chock-full of NFL fans, it might be shocking to realize that more people don't care about the goings-on in the Super Bowl than those who do.
However, I simply want football. I want to see two teams playing as hard as they can to earn a Lombardi Trophy and I want it with as few interruptions as possible.
This is the last football we will all see for quite a few months, and it's frustrating to think that we will in fact be seeing more ads than we will actual action.
So, please, watch the commercials, be entertained by them, even. However, for the love of football, please don't cheer louder or feel more moved by what happens in the breaks than what the New York Giants and New England Patriots manage to accomplish on the field.
We're here for football, are we not? Without the Super Bowl, there wouldn't be these commercials. And the Super Bowl is a football game, not a mere platform for advertisers to showcase their master works.
This is our last chance to enjoy what is one of the most amazing things in the world (no, I'm not being hyperbolic); commercials will be there on Monday, but football won't. Enjoy the game.
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