Super Bowl LI on Sunday night was as close to a politics-free experience as a football fan could have hoped for, with even halftime performer Lady Gaga eschewing political talk in favor of high-energy showmanship — but several big-name brands couldn’t help but include overt political messaging in their Big Game advertising.
From Audi to It’s a 10 Haircare, and 84 Lumber’s ode to illegal immigration, here are the six most politicized advertisement from Super Bowl LI.
1. 84 Lumber
Construction materials company 84 Lumber’s advertisement featured a mother and daughter ostensibly journeying illegally from Latin America or Mexico to the United States. The ad shown during the Super Bowl cut off and directed viewers to the company’s website for the conclusion — the website had crashed shortly after the ad aired.
The final ad shows the mother and daughter walking through a large door of what appears be President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall.
“The will to succeed is always welcome here,” reads the company’s tagline.
2. Airbnb
The home-sharing company spotlighted diversity with their 30-second spot, titled “We Accept.”
“We believe in the simple idea that no matter who you are, where you’re from, who you love, or who you worship, you deserve to belong,” the company wrote in unveiling the ad on Sunday.
“Today we’re setting a goal to provide short-term housing over the next five years for 100,000 people in need. We’ll start with refugees, disaster survivors, and relief workers, though we want to accommodate many more types of displaced people over time.”
3. Budweiser
Anheuser-Busch ran an immigration-themed commercial relating the story of Adolphus Busch’s journey to the United States to meet up with Eberhard Anheuser (even though it wasn’t necessarily true to history).
The 60-second spot’s pro-immigration message is unmistakable. The ad is the latest foray into politics for the beer maker after its widely panned “Gender Pay Gap” Bud Light commercials starring Seth Rogen and Amy Schumer debuted ahead of the Super Bowl last year.
4. Audi
The German automaker debuted an ad about a young girl box car racing while her dad narrates along.
“What do I tell my daughter?” he says. “Do I tell her that her grandpa is worth more than her grandma? That her dad is worth more than her mom? Do I tell her that despite her education, her drive, her skills, her intelligence, she will automatically be valued as less than every man she ever meets? Or maybe, I’ll be able to tell her something different.”
Buy an Audi.
5. It’s a 10 Haircare
The hair products company took a shot at President Donald Trump in its 30-second spot.
“America, we’re in for at least four years of awful hair. So it’s up to you to do your part by making up for it with great hair,” the narrator says, before running through a montage of different wacky hairstyles.
The New England Patriots pulled off a come-from-behind victory in overtime Sunday night to defeat the Atlanta Falcons, 34-28.
Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum