Current:Home > Invest5 Super Bowl ads I'd like to see (but won't) to bridge America's deep political divisions-InfoLens
5 Super Bowl ads I'd like to see (but won't) to bridge America's deep political divisions
View Date:2024-12-23 12:05:43
The one ad we probably won’t see and surely need at this year’s Super Bowl is a public relations campaign for America's common ground. It’s too bad, 'cause even Bud Light’s on a comeback tour after last year’s boycott and we have polarizing national elections in November.
With approximately 200 million souls glued to game day screens − a rare moment of live national monoculture − we could use a 30-second spot to fight deep divisions before the presidential rematch. In a recent Pew Research Center poll, 79% of Americans described political feelings with “negative or critical words” such as “divisive” or “corrupt.” A January CBS News/YouGov poll showed 70% of respondents feel democracy is “threatened,” and nearly half the country expects violence after future presidential elections.
I’m a Wall Street lawyer from Kentucky, and my brother drives a tractor-trailer in Louisville. We rarely vote the same but find plenty of common ground, often hilariously, when he visits Brooklyn or we journey to visit Appalachian family.
As President Abraham Lincoln challenged at Gettysburg, the “great task remaining before us” is that this nation “have a new birth of freedom … and not perish from the earth.”
What better time than communal Super Bowl Sunday to try.
Best Super Bowl commercials 2024:Rate your favorites with USA TODAY's Ad Meter
America needs a pep talk from Ted Lasso
I wish we’d see these bipartisan spots of shared national interest to build unity before November’s big game:
- Half-time pep talk. Paging coach Ted Lasso to sniff “smells like potential” in our national locker room for a down-home civics lesson on respect and shared values. Pan to John Dutton of "Yellowstone" at the chalkboard, The Rock wielding a foam roller and Dolly Parton passing energy drinks. Listen up blue collars, Bible belters, bicoastals and billionaires – America may feel down by 7 at the half, but there’s still no better patch of astroturf than the U.S. of A. Time to exit the screens and armchairs and crack the national playbook. As coach Dolly says, if we don’t figure out how to “walk a mile in each other’s shoes,” we may “never walk again.” E pluribus unum, baby!
- Finfluencer financial literacy rap. 2022’s “Crypto Bowl” left enough discredited “finfluencers” to field a Chicago Bears-style “Super Bowl Shuffle” to combat dismal financial literacy, an issue across the 50 states. Here’s what’s not polarizing and sorely lacking in Americans’ daily bread: a national curriculum in diversifying portfolios, savings and compound interest. Crypto pitch models Kim Kardashian and the Winklevoss twins could boogie while DJ Khaled raps “common cents …” Clang … Fade to a sample of Sam Bankman-Fried’s cell door. Mic dropped.
- Plymouth Rock anti-hate spot from religious leaders. Gather a literal boatload of faith leaders on the Mayflower II. Let that “civil body politick” urge the flocks to stop the hate, antisemitism and intolerance. Freedom to worship is why they launched the ship in the first place, brothers and sisters. So don’t sink it. Fill the decks with “Pilgrim strangers.” Muster the pastors, rabbis, imams, bishops, pujaris and elders. Summon the shamans, monks, priests and nuns. Invite Ron Reagan, whose atheist “burn in hell” ads are already running on NFL Sundays. Cue Gospel choir singing “Let it Be.”
- Peppy gratitude for truckers, warehouse workers and shippers. Trippy thank you for those who hauled football-shaped chip-n-dips, foam #1 fingers and TravNTay TNT replica bracelets in interstate commerce. Cue Grateful Dead’s “Truckin’” to spotlight semi drivers, warehouse stockers, postal carriers and everyone else we click and forget. I may be biased here with a brother behind the wheel, but I’d gather NFL cheerleaders to shake a national pompom for those who do the heavy lifting, long hauls and last miles for our online shopping habit so we don’t have to.
- Solemn reminder that free speech is risky business. While we bicker over library books, micro-aggressions and Ivy League presidents, dissident Alexei Navalny freezes in a penal colony north of the Arctic circle; journalist Evan Gershkovich sits over 300 days in lockup; scores of reporters perish covering Ukraine, Gaza and other conflicts; and Thailand sentences a young man to 50 years for criticizing its king in social media posts. A solemn tribute to brave souls who risk freedom and death to get the word out can remind all sides that free speech is fragile and not guaranteed. Music: none. Let silence speak.
Where we could find unity
Alas, all prime-time $7 million slots are sold. We may have to find unity in the return of the Clydesdales. But there’s always next year.
Unity is a winning strategy.As we head into the 2024 election, more of us should try it.
With more than 70% of Americans supporting mandatory age limits on elected officials, we could work together now on a bipartisan retirement ad for a constitutional amendment to avoid a 2028 “elder bowl.”
In my family, we both agree on that one.
Caroline Aiken Koster is a New York lawyer writing a memoir about her roots in Kentucky.
veryGood! (55244)
Related
- World War II veteran reflects on life as he turns 100
- The importance of being lazy
- Scott McLaughlin wins at Barber after week of questions around Team Penske controversy
- Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders swarmed at pop-up retail event, rakes in big sales
- 5-year-old boy who went missing while parent was napping is found dead near Oregon home, officials say
- Houston Texans WR Tank Dell suffers minor injury in Florida shooting
- Prince Harry Returning to the U.K. 3 Months After Visiting King Charles III
- Mike Tyson explains why he's given up sex and marijuana before Jake Paul bout on July 20
- Ex-Phoenix Suns employee files racial discrimination, retaliation lawsuit against the team
- Global negotiations on a treaty to end plastic pollution at critical phase in Canada
Ranking
- Family of security guard shot and killed at Portland, Oregon, hospital sues facility for $35M
- New charges announced against 4 youths arrested in gunfire at event to mark end of Ramadan
- Mannequin falls onto track during IndyCar Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park
- Republicans seeking Georgia congressional seat debate limits on abortion and immigration
- Kentucky gets early signature win at Champions Classic against Duke | Opinion
- Caitlin Clark 'keeps the momentum rolling' on first day of Indiana Fever training camp
- CBS Sports announces Matt Ryan will join NFL studio show. Longtime analysts Simms and Esiason depart
- Runner dies after receiving emergency treatment at Nashville race, organizers say
Recommendation
-
Biden EPA to charge first-ever ‘methane fee’ for drilling waste by oil and gas companies
-
Tractor-trailers with no one aboard? The future is near for self-driving trucks on US roads
-
Tractor-trailers with no one aboard? The future is near for self-driving trucks on US roads
-
Powerball winning numbers for April 27 drawing: Lottery jackpot rises to $149 million
-
Gisele Bündchen Makes First Major Appearance Since Pregnancy
-
Two Russian journalists jailed on ‘extremism’ charges for alleged work for Navalny group
-
Dan Rather, at 92, on a life in news
-
Who wants to be a millionaire? How your IRA can help you get there