Some people watch the Super Bowl for the game; some people watch for the ads; some people watch for both; and some people don't watch at all. For most of my life, I fell into the last category, but after being married for almost 30 years to an avid football fan, I have finally come around and I will confess to liking watching both the game and the ads. We're Patriots fans—go ahead, BOO all you want, but Belichick and I share the same alma mater—so we cared about the outcome (although the actual competition proved much less exciting than the playoff contests). The ads always provide entertainment, sometimes perplexity, and some insight into American culture at a particular moment in history. This year, many of the ads featured women in leading roles. I was particularly interested in how many commercials focused on or in some way referenced female empowerment during a show that, while female football fandom has certainly increased in recent years, still represents a very male event.
One of the most interesting aspects of this year's Super Bowl ads was how often they featured female football players. I'm not sure how I feel about girls playing tackle football given all we've learned about the long-term negative impact the game has had on so many players. However, the fact that at least three commercials shown during one of the most widely watched television programs of the year included female football players feels like a step towards greater equality.
Toyota's ad introduced us to Toni Harris, a girl determined to play football in spite of being told she was too small, too slow, and not strong enough. The first woman to receive a football scholarship for a non-kicker position (she plays free-safety), the Detroit native—who spent her childhood in foster care from age 3 to 13, when she was finally adopted—is currently finishing up at East Los Angeles College, and is deciding among four offers to continue her career at a four-year college. Her goal: to be the first woman to play in the NFL. As Yahoo Sports explained, "The entire premise of the commercial is to defy expectations. For Toyota, that's breaking out of what an SUV should be. For Toni, that's getting past what society expects of girls and women."
The NFL celebrated its 100-year anniversary with an ad that was funny, even if you didn't recognize all the football stars it featured (I didn't). What caught my eye among the dozens of men tossing a football, sliding across tables, plunging into a cake, and leaping into the air was a young woman. In fact, she was the player who gained possession of the ball, taunting the other players with, "Ya want this? Come and get it." Who was she among these superstar players? Her name is Sam Gordon and a video of her playing football when she was 9 went viral in 2012. She has sued three school districts under Title IX over their prohibition against girls playing tackle football and helped found the Utah Girls Tackle Football League. Her prowess earned her an invitation to last year's Super Bowl from Commissioner Roger Goodell—she watched the game and blogged for espnW from his box—and the distinction of being the first female football player to appear on a Wheaties box.
CBS supported girl power by providing time for a PSA from Girls Inc., which featured an all-girls football team playing the New York Giants. The best part of the ad is a close-up of two players from the opposing teams, the first an imposing male player facing a girl not much older than 8 by my estimate whose facial expressions convey how entirely unintimidated she is. The message, narrated over the footage of the girls playing football, references the many values associated with girls playing team sports, lessons that can be applied to other aspects of life: "When girls face their challenges, they're stronger. When girls work together, they realize their value. When girls get to play, they learn to win."
Girls playing football intrigued me, but it was the Bumble ad that stood out as my favorite. In case you don't know, which I didn't, Bumble is a dating app where women make the first move. Featuring Serena Williams, the commercial points out that while girls are told to wait, that waiting is polite, if she had done either, she wouldn't have achieved the success she has. She observes, "If I waited to be invited in, I never would have stood out. If I waited for change to happen, I never would have made a difference." "So make the first move," she exhorts. "Don't wait to be told your place. Take it. Don't wait for people to find you. Find them. In work. In love. In life." She finishes with a call of empowerment: "And most of all, don't wait to be given power. Because here's what they won't tell you. We already have it." I didn't even know what Bumble was, but I found out. But really, does it matter? Williams' message is one for our time, independent of any product.
The Super Bowl also presented us with Captain Marvel, the first female superhero to lead a Marvel Comics film. Although not the first trailer for the movie, which comes out on March 8, this one introduced "higher, further, faster." The action-packed trailer effectively embodies that message. It begins with a nod to Top Gun, but both pilots we see, Carol Danvers who is Captain Marvel played by Brie Larson and Maria Rambeau (clever?) played by Lashana Lynch, are women. One of the two directors, Anna Boden, is also a woman. My favorite part of the trailer happens when, after zooming through space in a streak of light, Captain Marvel looks directly into the camera and says, "Try to keep up." I'm not a huge fan of superhero films, but you can be sure I'm going to see this one.
While not about female empowerment, the Pampers ad with John Legend and Adam Levine emphasized equality, as Legend changed a diaper with backup from a host of dads carrying babies. Towards the end of the ad, Levine appears changing his daughter's diaper. He finishes Legend's jingle, "Stinky Booty Duty" (written by Legend's wife, Chrissy Tiegen), with "and Daddy's going to clean it up." There are no moms in sight until the very end when Tiegen arrives asking with mild exasperation, "Must we do this every time?"
It's hard to imagine even 5 years ago, and certainly 10 years ago, that the highly anticipated Super Bowl ads would feature women so prominently, both as leads and in messages of empowerment and equality. While this year's commercials received legitimate criticism for their lack of creativity (where was the Budweiser ad that made me cry?), we can applaud CBS and the advertising agencies as well as the companies they represent for recognizing the value of this type of messaging.
