While some students tuned in to Super Bowl LVI to watch the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals face off, others watched so they could critique the halftime show and commercials.
This year, hip-hop took center stage at the half-time show, featuring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, and Mary J. Blige.
Megan Pachner, a senior criminal justice major, said this performance was a great mix of 1990s nostalgia with artists from more recent generations.
“I thought it was really good,” Pachner said. “It was really fun to be able to relate to my sisters and hear some of the music that they listened to when they were kids and share it with me.”
Juliette Linares, a senior elementary and special education major, had a less positive review concerning the execution of the performance.
“My favorite performance was definitely Kendrick, but I felt like Mary J. Blige was underutilized,” Linares said. “She could’ve done more. After watching, my family wanted to rewatch J-Lo and Shakira’s performance.”
Like Linares, Angelica Sendrowski, a freshmen elementary and special education major, reminisced on old halftime show performances while watching this year’s.
“This performance was nice, but there have been better,” said Sendrowski. “I wish Pitbull would perform again.”
Along with the halftime show, many students were interested in the commercials and took notice of the overarching themes they had.
“There was such a big focus on cryptocurrency, online investing and electric cars,” Sammi Kovaleski, a senior marketing and entrepreneurship double major, said. “I’m surprised I didn’t see more food and alcohol commercials.”
When asked what her favorite was, Kovaleski said the Lay’s “Golden Memories” commercial because “they chose extremely recognizable actors, and it was a nice story line.” The commercial starred comedic actors Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd.
A controversial commercial was for Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange platform. The 60-second commercial featured a QR code that offered $15 in Bitcoin to anyone who created a Coinbase account before Feb. 15.
“It was a great tool for calling consumers to action,” Kovaleski said.
Gregori Presinal, a sophomore computer science major, had different thoughts on the Coinbase advertisement.
“The Coinbase commercial was definitely the worst,” Presinal said. “It got the attention of many people with a gimmick, but, like other commercials, it doesn't really tell the uninformed population how it works. Millions of people will be losing money in something they do not understand, while the most powerful in crypto are gaining capital from their ignorance.”
Mikayla Downer Blake can be reached at mikayla.downerblake@student.shu.edu.
