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Natalie M. Sharp
Masadul Bisawas, Ph. D.
Com 245- 01
3/31/14
Media Content Analysis: Super Bowl Ad
There is no day bigger than Super Bowl Sunday for advertising on television.
The event attracts over 100 million viewers each year, a fact of which advertisers
are very aware. Companies reportedly spend about $4 million in order to claim just
30 seconds of airtime (Kay). That 30 seconds is arguably the most important time
for that company all year as their ads will span the boundaries that arent normally
reached throughout the year. Their ads impact a wider range of people and portray
much more than just a product or service. These commercials can show stereotypes
and ideals that our society likes to think are long forgotten.
In ten commercials from the 2012 Super Bowl, I looked for fault lines and
framing. The commercials were for Hulu Plus, TaxAct, GE, Budweiser, Go Daddy,
Suzuki, Audi, NFL, Swamp People and Hyundai. The first ad I watched was for Hulu
Plus with Will Arnett as the main character. Of the 13 people that could be seen
clearly enough to determine race, 10 were Caucasian. Out of 14 people seen, 10
were clearly male. 93 percent of the people shown were working class. I think
theres something important about the fact that the only upper-class person was a
middle-aged, white male, which is too common of a frame shown in our society.
In the TaxAct ad Free to Pee, an upper class, suburban, white family is
shown at home by their pool. The characters are a young boy and girl, with an older

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woman in the background watering a garden (probably their mother). The frame of
this seems innocent enough, but there is no diversity whatsoever.
Building Something Big in Louisville is a GE commercial for the Appliance
Park in Louisville, Kentucky. Like the Hulu Plus ad, this ad shows mostly all
Caucasian males in a working environment. 10 out of 12 of the people in the ad are
Caucasian, and 9 out of 12 are male. The frame is made to target the working class.
However, only showing one dominant ethnicity and gender is biased and doesnt
reflect the reality of the working class.
GEs second commercial Power and Beer also involved Budweiser. Even
less diverse than their last ad, GE only showed Caucasian, male workers in their
factory. Only 3 women were shown in the ad, and they only appeared in the bar
scene toward the end. The frame is very much geared toward working men only.
The GoDaddy ad was probably the most sexist of the 10 ads. The premise of
the ad was that two Caucasian males, possibly in their early 20s, are sitting in a
room when an attractive woman appears and tells them about GoDaddy.com. Then,
several other scantily-dressed women appear that the men practically drool over.
Out of 11 people in the ad, seven are Caucasian, three are African American, and one
is Latino. The women are looked at as objects throughout the ad.
The Suzuki Sled commercial showed an ethnicity that Ive never seen in a
commercial before (that I recall, at least), which is Inuit. The couple, living in some
sort of snowy tundra, does not speak English but instead have English subtitles
when they speak their own language. The male goes out with his sled dogs as the
woman remains at home (a gender role stereotype), and when he returns, he has his

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dogs in the back seat of his new Suzuki car and his wife gives him a stern look. While
not very diverse, this ad shows a part of our country (it could be Alaska) that we
typically overlook in advertising.
Like the Suzuki commercial, Audis Ahab ad for the new Quattro is minimal.
The only character is a middle-aged white male. He plays a tow truck driver during
winter who is frustrated because he never gets to tow the Audi Quattro (meaning
the car runs well in snow).
NFL Fantasy Million Dollar Fan was relatable to the GoDaddy commercial in
the way that women were presented. They were shown as sexual objects or servants
to the men that had won the million dollars. The Asian-American man, however, was
shown with just a male servant, which enforces the stereotype of Asian males being
non-sexual. As far as racial diversity, almost all of the major categories seemed to be
represented. Although there were more Caucasians (seven), there were also five
African Americans, two Latinos, and two Native Americans. Most of the areas shown
were rural, like by the pool at a mansion.
The Swamp People commercial was not diverse at all. All five characters
were Caucasian, working-class males. All but one was middle-aged, and all of the
scenes were in a rural, bayou-type area. However, I have seen the show, and it is
about the lifestyle of a certain group of people that dont typically get attention in
our media (Creole culture).
Hyundais All For One Big Game Commercial showed the main character as
his coworkers are singing him the NFL theme song. The ad was pretty diverse in
most categories. While it was difficult to tally everyone shown as most scenes

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showed huge crowds, I could still find nearly every ethnicity/race. For once, African
Americans outnumbered Caucasians, which I find rare. While Latinos, Asian
Americans and Native Americans were greatly outnumbered, they were still
represented. Males and females were very close in number (42 or more males and
37 or more females). There were many middle-aged characters, but the main
character was young (probably in his mid to late 20s).
Over all 10 commercials, there were clear biases. Caucasians alone accounted
for half of the ethnicity column, African Americans coming in second with 28
percent, Latinos with five percent and so on to much lower numbers. Gender was a
pretty close split, slightly tilted towards males, who accounted for 56 percent. There
were no sexual orientations specified other than straight. Most of the people shown
were working class, with only 11 percent being either upper or poor/unemployed
class. Age-wise, the scales definitely tip in the favor of the middle-aged. Only three
children were shown, and only one senior. While most of the people were shown in
factory or other work settings, urban and rural settings had an even amount of view
when compared to each other. There was only one suburban area. It is important to
note that not a single Arab was shown in any of the 10 ads. Nor were there any
physically challenged, mentally challenged, homosexual, transgender, student, or
teen people shown.
The framing for the ads showed really only one positive, affirming thing,
which was women working alongside men, in equal positions (only in one
commercial). The negatives outweighed the positives, showing the Asian male in the
NFL Million Dollar Fan commercial as non-sexual (unlike his other male

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counterparts), women not being shown at all in the workplace, and workplaces
being predominantly run and operated by middle-aged, white males.
Super Bowl commercials reach not just one race, gender, age group, or social
class. In order to better serve the public that views these commercials year after
year, I think the best solution to the problem of lack of diversity would be simply to
air more commercials that have a diverse message. Like the Cheerios commercial
where the biracial daughter has a Caucasian mother and an African American father,
who are a happy and healthy seeming family, we need to depict more functioning
life of every group of people (not just separately, but as a whole unit). People other
than Caucasians need to be shown in positions of power for once, as do women.
Women need to be treated like contributors rather and being objectified to satisfy
male fascination.
Word Count: 1294

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WORKS CITED
Kay, Alex. "Super Bowl Ad Cost." Bleacher Report. 2 Feb. 2014. Web. 26 Mar.
2014.
Super Bowl Commercial: All (playlist). (2012). http://superbowlads.com/article_archive/super-bowl-commercial-archive-video/2012-adsvideo/