Media Blog Project 1

Option 2-What kind of culture is television reflecting back at us today?




This question had me stumped until I watched the season finale of the show I have been watching. See, I don’t have cable tv to watch actual tv series. I watch YouTube channels where I skip the commercials but there’s one show I watch that has some of the best commercials. That show, you probably guessed already, is NFL Football. Like a tv series, there is an opening weekend which coincidentally starts in the Fall. The season goes for 18 weeks. There is a game on Thursday Night, two on Sunday, one on Sunday Night and one on Monday Night.

There are commercials during the games. They mostly focus on men with beer, body wash, cars and food. I noticed that as the season went along it started to shift to be more inclusive of women when it came to advertising. Bringing something to women who watch football, commercials to keep them watching ads that encourage empowerment, college from home, wine, funny ads about you name it. There are ads that try to pull on our heart strings like the St. Jude cancer center for kids. Those ads make the biggest guy in the room shed a tear or two, but the ones that use humor seem to stick in our memory longer.

So like I said, the season finale was the Super Bowl Sunday game between the AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs against NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans on Feb. 9, 2025. The game was a lopsided win for the Eagles. They stopped Kansas City’s run of back to back Super Bowl wins. They were trying to be the first team to win the Super Bowl three years in a row. The way the Eagles played tonight makes you think they could give it a run to three peat.

The real reason to watch the Super Bowl is for the commercials. This year’s ads were excellent. I noticed that above the constant outrageously funny ads featuring celebrities there were ads targeting women's strengths when it came to handling tough jobs, tough situations and how they excel in sports. Even the NFL ran an ad promoting girls to sign-up for Flag Football and to get this sport in high schools in all 50 states. It is an Olympic sport starting at the Los Angeles Games in 2028.

Super Bowl LIX || FLAG 50




The ads focused mainly on diversity and inclusion. Which I thought was funny since Donald Trump was in attendance. It was broadcast on FOX Sports which only showed him once during the national anthem. The city of New Orleans proudly showcased performances by Lady Gaga, a HBCU marching band, Harry Connick Jr, and John Babtiste (who sang the National Anthem). There were a few that stood for their uniqueness. People Magazine is quoted saying this about a Dove ad:

With all the celebrity power and special effects throughout the commercials, Dove’s simple “These Legs” ad may have just packed the most punch.

Set to H.E.R.’s cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run,” the video is just a 3-year-old girl gleefully running on the sidewalk through her neighborhood. “At 3, these legs are unstoppable,” appears across the video in a white font. The girl giggles, and the next sentence appears: “At 14, she’ll think they’re unbearable.”

Next appears a stark white screen with the Dove logo and the line, “1 in 2 girls who quit sports are criticized for their body type. Let’s change the way we talk to our girls. #KeepHerConfident”

Here's the link to the ad in question.

These Legs: A Dove Big Game Film | #KeepHerConfident

But the ones I liked the most was a tie between the E.L.F. ad because it didn’t tell me anything about what it was but it was funny. (It wasn’t until I was writing this and did some research did I find out that it was about cosmetics.) and the Totino’s Pizza Rolls alien send off gone wrong ad

e.l.f. von zehn (Full Length) | e.l.f. Cosmetics

Chazmo Finally Goes Home: Totino's Pizza Rolls :30 Big Game Ad

That concludes this NFL season which means I will be a little depressed until August when a new season begins. Until then must suffer until baseball season begins in April, Go Mariners!






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