On Sunday, Feb. 9, we celebrated what some would call an American holiday, Super Bowl LIX. This year, the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs took the field to compete for the trophy, rings and most of all bragging rights for themselves and their entire fanbase. The Super Bowl is not only a football game, it is an event. The game, the halftime show and the commercials consume pop culture for weeks after that momentous Sunday.
Naturally, the main course of the Super Bowl is the game itself. However, Chiefs Kingdom may want to forget that part altogether. This was not one of their best games. Kansas City couldn’t even cross the 50-yard line in the first half. A particularly memorable sequence of events was Patrick Mahomes’ four-play run of a sack, another sack, a pick-six and an interception. Once deemed one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, this seemed out of character. Of course, this is not just on Mahomes, the Eagles’ defense forced those mistakes and dominated the entire game. The pick-six was scored by Eagles’ cornerback, Cooper Dejean. This was a big day for the young Eagle because this was his first Super Bowl and 22 birthday.
Obviously, the Chiefs had a difficult first half; however, it didn’t get much better during the second. They were able to get some points on the board, but they were too far behind to catch up to the Eagles. The final score was 40-22 Eagles, resulting in the end of the Chiefs’ two-straight Super Bowl victories and defeating the chances of a three-peat.
While there is always discourse over the game itself, there was discourse over the halftime show as well. Kendrick Lamar was chosen to perform during the halftime show to celebrate Super Bowl LIX. He showed up in some fashionable bootcut or flare jeans that were widely talked about on social media. During this performance, Samuel L. Jackson was dressed up as Uncle Sam and was speaking throughout. Lamar also brought on frequent collaborator SZA to the stage to give the show a little more variety. Of course, he performed his five-time Grammy award-winning song, “Not Like Us” with subtle and not-so-subtle digs at the rapper, Drake. Unexpectedly, there was a cameo made by the one and only Serena Williams, the tennis and women’s icon.
In terms of the reaction to the performance, people had differing opinions. Some said it was a very boring halftime show with less finesse than previous performances. They argue that he didn’t play his more popular songs besides “Not Like Us” which meant fewer people could sing along. However, on the other side of the argument, people claim the performance had a deeper meaning that went over people’s heads. It’s theorized the performance had political and social meaning. He used a lot of visual symbolism to represent hip-hop culture and Black identity in America. This halftime show will be talked about for many years as Super Bowl season comes around.
A sometimes forgotten iconic aspect of the Super Bowl is the commercials. Every year, companies try to make the best commercial oftentimes leaning toward comical or inspirational themes.
The most memorable commercials were the one where the character Stitch runs across a football field intended to make the audience believe something was actually running on the field. This was to promote the new live-action Stitch movie arriving in theaters on May 23. Additionally, there was a commercial recreating the iconic restaurant scene from “When Harry Met Sally” promoting mayonnaise. Pringles threw their hat in the ring when they had celebrities’ mustaches fly off their face when someone ran out of Pringles. A commercial that made people rather uncomfortable was made by Coffee Mate to promote their cold foam. The commercial included a dancing tongue that at one point left its owner’s mouth leaving viewers a tad uneasy.
While these commercials were comedically focused. A rather impactful commercial was made by Nike. This commercial aimed to inspire women to do the things they were told they couldn’t. It included famous women athletes such as Caitlin Clark and Sha’Carri Richardson. Hopefully, this commercial achieves its intended purpose and inspires women athletes to achieve what others say they cannot. This was my favorite commercial because although it is still trying to sell products, I believe it will do the most good.
Since the Super Bowl happens every year, people often look back on past games, halftime shows, and commercials to compare and reevaluate. This year’s Super Bowl Sunday may have created some renowned moments that we aren’t aware of yet.
The nature of the game is that there are winners and losers. Congratulations to the winners of this year’s Super Bowl; Eagles fans, Kendrick Lamar fans, and commercial fans and good luck next year to the losers of this year’s Super Bowl; Chiefs fans, Drake fans and commercial skippers.
