He: Every year millions of families across the United States gather around their television to watch the Super Bowl, one of the most viewed sporting event in American history. While most families like to watch the actual football game, there are some people who do not want to watch the game at all, in fact they despise football in general. These types of people often gather around to watch the commercials. Who would want to sit around simply to watch a bunch of advertisements? The people who watch this game solely for the ads might say the selected commercials are funny or more entertaining than the game itself. Saying that simple ads are more exciting to watch than two of the best teams in the NFL facing off in a monumental game is utterly absurd.

Sure some of the commercials were funny this year; however, there were a lot of sad and weepy ones as well. For example, companies like Buick and Stella Artois decided to tug at the heartstrings by promoting Buick’s donations to cancer research. On a similar note, Stella Artois used the well-known actor, Matt Damon, for advertising as he stands in front of the camera blatantly telling the audience to buy their limited edition chalice, so that they can donate water to those who need it. For people looking to be entertained by the Superbowl commercials, this does not seem to do the job. Some still may say that the “gems” of the Superbowl are the ads, but 30 seconds of video and a punchline that does not appear until halfway through the commercial shouldn’t meet the standard of entertaining or the quality of a football game pitting the final two teams against each other. In the end, Superbowl commercials are just there so we have something to watch or listen to while snacking or socializing during the breaks between plays…nothing less, nothing more.

Years of sitting on the couch watching football with my dad, I have gained some football knowledge over the years. We all can agree that a great majority of games are pretty boring with the exceptions of playoffs and of course the Superbowl. The Super Bowl is the most watched football game of the year, with an average of 103.4 million viewers; however, many of these viewers are not watching the game for football at all.

It is pretty rare to see a nail-biting and entertaining Super Bowl; there tends to be a large score differential between teams, making the game nearly impossible to watch. For these common, boring games, a great majority of viewers watch the programs in hope of seeing their favorite artist perform either before the game singing the National Anthem, or during the big and infamous halftime show. Even then, a lot of the time the artists performing might not be your cup of tea. So what is the point of even watching the game?

A prominent reason people watch the Superbowl is for the commercials. It is a tradition in my family to vote on the best commercial played during the game. It is a fun way to stay tuned in to the on-going and uneventful game. Every year my family anticipates the upcoming commercials while recollecting previous ads that have been stuck in our minds for years. I can tell you that you may not remember that one catch that one player made in the Super Bowl four years ago, but you will remember that M&M commercial from 2012 when they introduced the new candy character.  

All in all, the Super Bowl allows families and friends to come together to watch one of the biggest sports phenomenons. While some watch the game out of pure love for the sport, many actually tune in in hopes of catching another memorable commercial.