Taylor Swift was happy. Isn’t that all that really matters?
All those who tuned in to this year’s Super Bowl (LVIII for those keeping track) got to see a really good game, with the Kansas City Chiefs winning in overtime. The San Francisco 49ers didn’t share in the joy, but they have nothing to be ashamed of in their quest for the Lombardi Trophy. Someone, however, did have to lose.
People who didn’t lose were those on the gravy train that dished out all the advertising revenue. Advertisers shelled out about $7 million for each 30-second spot that appeared — and that doesn’t count the production and talent costs. Some of the commercials were okay, while others were just mediocre productions that cost a lot of dough. No one can argue, however, that this year’s crop of ads wasn’t star-studded. It’s too bad that they just don’t seem as funny as they did in years gone by.
My nomination for the most annoying ad was the animated commercial for Temu. While they promoted that you could shop like a billionaire, Temu is really just a Chinese-owned e-commerce company that specializes in low-cost and discount goods — mostly shipped from China. People who don’t know better may want to stop and think about the fact that they’re not accredited by the Better Business Bureau and they have a customer satisfaction rating of 2.5 out of 5 stars. People who complain about Temu say the items they ordered took weeks or months to arrive — if they showed up at all. Perhaps the business is even more annoying than their ad. Caveat emptor.
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Austrian accent had to be rescued by Danny DeVito, and I think we all got tired of hearing Arnold saying “Neigh-baaa!” But the State Farm ad was certainly a blockbuster production. (Insert eye roll here).
Most of the time, the commercials left me feeling just how Matt Damon looked in the Dunkin commercial with Bennifer and friends.
But there was a game attached to all these commercials, the first ever Super Bowl to be played in Las Vegas. It was, perhaps, the perfect match: Sin City’s glitz and extravagance made it the perfect host for this egregious display of, well, glitz and extravagance.
If you wanted to be there in person at Allegiant Stadium, the cheapest face value tickets cost $2,000. The average ticket cost was $8,600, with some seats priced as high as $60,000. A 20-person suite would have cost you $1.8 million, but at least the food and hooch were included. I can think of better ways to blow nearly $2 million.
Usher’s halftime show, with a bunch of special guests like Alicia Keys, Ludacris and Lil Jon, was sparkly and glittery and otherwise meh. A lot of viewers claimed that the sound mix was horrible, and that there were problems with Usher’s microphone or his voice. I’m sure we’ll be reading more about this in the days to come.
At least the game lived up to all the hype. The Chiefs and 49ers took Super Bowl LVIII into overtime, and both teams played to win. Both defensive units performed admirably, and both quarterbacks acquitted themselves quite well. There were no huge officiating errors, and it wasn’t over until it was over. The victory celebration for the Chiefs showed a team reveling in the ecstasy of winning it all. And yes, Taylor Swift did make it down to the field to celebrate with Travis Kelce. Note to all the conspiracy theorists: they didn’t endorse any candidate for president.
And this brings me back to the commercials — specifically, one of the strangest commercials ever aired during a Super Bowl. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an alleged candidate for president, shamelessly stole his deceased uncle JFK’s 1960 campaign ad and inserted himself into it. That takes balls, especially when the nephew is so far inferior to his deceased uncle.
But at least Taylor Swift was happy.
– Catch John live Wednesdays at Brutus Seafood, Thursdays at Sparky’s Landing, and Sundays at the Skipjack Resort Tiki Bar. Find his music anywhere you download or stream your music. www.johnbartus.com • johnbartus.hearnow.com
