Super Bowl LVIII broadcast (and streaming) thoughts
It’s time for my annual look at this year’s Super Bowl. Below are my thoughts about Super Bowl LVIII and its related elements (including the actual game itself).
Commercials
Best ads
State Farm: It was amusing to see State Farm use Arnold Schwarzenegger (and his distinctive accent) for a comedic “action hero” take on being a State Farm agent. There’s also a cameo by Danny DeVito, referencing both actors’ costarring roles in “Twins.”
Bud Light. A genie grants wishes, but the humans and genie end up having fun together, versus any dire consequences (aside from a T. rex someone wished for).
Verizon. Beyonce starred in an ad for Verizon, where she tries various stunts to “break the internet.” Semi-related, Beyonce also released a few new songs during the game.
Worst ads
He Gets Us. Back for another year, this year’s ad features various types of people having their feet washed by someone else. This is presumably in reference to Jesus, but it comes off looking… odd. And again, as I wrote for last year’s ads, the ads’ backers likely aren’t the most tolerant of LGBTQ folk (among other groups), making a lie out of their message.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign ad. One of the most bizarre ads of the evening, the anti-vaxxer-turned-presidential-candidate used old footage of John F. Kennedy’s 1960 presidential ad campaign, but with his own face plastered over his uncle’s face. Ick.
Other
Overall, the trend behind this year’s ads seemed to be “cram in as many celebrities as possible.” A recurring theme every year, admittedly, but this year it seemed more noticeable.
AI didn’t dominate as much as I thought it would, but there were still several ads from Google and Samsung that promoted AI tools.
Also lacking this year: ads for streaming services. Paramount+ saw plenty of ads (of course), but the only other major ad was for Disney+. And it was pretty generic: just a screen full of quotes from famous Disney-owned films/TV shows.
Temu and Homes.com ran multiple ads during the evening, making me wonder how much they spent on Super Bowl ads. A 30-second ad cost a whopping $7 million for this year’s game.
The halftime show
Usher was the main star of this year’s halftime show, though Alicia Keys also appeared. Both made for an entertaining show, though oddly the NFL edited part of Keys’ performance for its YouTube version.
The game itself
The game, between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers, saw a slow first half, but picked up in the second half, and even went into overtime. The Chiefs won, 25-22, giving them another win, just like last year. The game itself was already a repeat of 2020’s game (which also had the Chiefs and 49ers); the Chiefs have also appeared in every Super Bowl since 2020, save one.
Singer Taylor Swift also appeared at the game, presumably to root for her boyfriend, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
Between the repeat teams and my indifference about both teams (and not being a Taylor Swift fan), I was hoping for a more interesting game lineup. The Detroit Lions (who the 49ers beat for the Super Bowl shot) would’ve given this game a “champions vs. underdogs” theme. Oh, well.
The game's broadcast / streaming simulcast
CBS broadcast this year’s game, and also streamed it on Paramount+. I noticed a few buffering issues early on with the app, but otherwise it worked OK.
Paramount also took the unique route of simulcasting the game on Nickelodeon, with a special kid-friendly broadcast. Several “SpongeBob SquarePants” characters appeared (via CGI) as “co-anchors”/sideline commentators, while Dora the Explorer appeared to explain some of the rules of the game for young viewers. (DORA: “Maybe they need a map to find the end zone”… heh.)
Unfortunately, Paramount+ didn’t stream the Nick version of the game for some reason. (It also doesn't seem to be uploaded to Paramount+ for viewers to watch/rewatch.) My only guesses: rights-related issues; trying to draw attention to Nickelodeon's traditional cable channel (given declining ratings); and/or concerns about traffic overloading Paramount+.
Fortunately, the NFL uploaded a 12-minute “highlight” reel to YouTube.