The Big Game Brings Enjoyment to Students

Some of the Super Bowl commercials were funny but others carried political messages such as this Airbnb ad. Photo Courtesy / @airbnb Some of the Super Bowl commercials were funny but others carried political messages such as this Airbnb ad. Photo Courtesy / @airbnb
Some of the Super Bowl commercials were funny but others carried political messages such as this Airbnb ad. Photo Courtesy / @airbnb
Some of the Super Bowl commercials were funny but others carried political messages such as this Airbnb ad.
Photo Courtesy / @airbnb

By Cassandra Sedler
Staff Writer

For millions across the country, Super Bowl Sunday is an unofficial, official holiday.

It is a day in which sports fans gather to cheer on their teams, enjoy company of friends and family, and eat great food.

With the amount of entertainment surrounding the big game, from the halftime show to the infamous commercial ads that viewers end up talking about more than the game itself, even the mildest of sports fans can take part in the fun.

What astonishes me year after year is the fact that more hype surrounds the commercial ads than the actual Super Bowl game itself.

According to statista.com, 83 percent of respondents consider the commercials on Super Bowl Sunday as entertainment.

What makes these advertisements so special when on any regular day, TV viewers cringe at the endless amount of commercials that interrupt the program they actually want to watch?

A commercial slot during the Super Bowl this year cost advertisers roughly $5 million, as opposed to a commercial shown during a relatively popular TV show costing advertisers about $200,000.

Perhaps advertisers compete for these 30 second time slots because millions of viewers watch the Super Bowl live, more than any other event on television.

Even so, it is still puzzling to think about the amount of ads that go viral online, racking up hundreds of millions of views, gaining even more notoriety on YouTube long after first airing on Super Bowl Sunday.

Entertainment aside, it is hard to believe that Super Bowl ads are any more effective in actually increasing sales, considering viewers on a regular day tend to completely ignore advertising pitches, or just change the channel entirely when a commercial break appears.

Needless to say, The Super Bowl continues to be one of the most watched live television events of the year.

With this in mind, it is safe to say advertisers will continue to race for the best time slot of the year, as long as the Super Bowl continues to be such a momentous day for millions of sports fans.

Email Cassandra at
csedler@live.esu.edu