While watching Super Bowl XLVIII, it was clear that advertisements this year were much more appropriate and less offensive than they have been in previous years. There were less commercials with sexual themes, which many women and families were happy about.
Comparatively, last year's Super Bowl was noticeably more sexual in nature than Superbowl XLVIII. A notoriously shocking company, GoDaddy.com, has been infamous for ads that are usually always sexual; most recently, the very unorthodox (and very uncomfortable) ad featuring model Bar Rafaeli and a nerd making out, symbolizing the "sexy" and the "smart" sides to GoDaddy.com.
Surprisingly, this commercial wasn't very well liked among viewers, and was actually one of the lowest rated ads of the night in 2013. Fiat also had a provocative ad campaign last year. As shown in the commercial, a bikini clad beach-lounger is displayed lying on the sand with the camera slowly making it's way to her back, where a scorpion snips off her bathing suit top.
These are only two of the several sexual advertisements that were shown to families across the country.
However, this year there were noticeably less sexual advertisements, and more patriotic, feel-good ads. The Coca-Cola commercial featuring different groups of people singing "America the Beautiful" received very positive reviews, along with the commercial from Budweiser documenting a soldier returning from Afghanistan and being welcomed home like a hero. The lieutenant who was being welcomed home seemed to be genuinely touched by the experience. These commercials were appreciated because they were wholesome, feel-good commercials that everyone can watch together and not feel uncomfortable.
Some people viewed the change of pace for advertising to be a good thing, most of them being parents or women that are tired of being objectified in the media. A viewer told Fox News Latino that he enjoyed this year's ads more, because they overall lacked raunchy content that would be inappropriate for parents with younger children: "The ads are less funny, but it's easier to watch the Superbowl with your family".
Many women were also offended by the constant sexually based commercials (like GoDaddy), and refused to purchase the products endorsed by any company that promoted women as merely a way to sell merchandise, because after all, "sex sells" in today's society where women are usually objectified. The reason for the change of content in commercials is greatly due to the fact that companies, GoDaddy for example, actually lost business and as a result tried to change their marketing to be more appropriate and mature.
Overall, many view this year's Super Bowl ads to be a step in the right direction, as they are noticeably less sexist and inappropriate. Hopefully, this trend will continue in the future and viewers will start to have higher standards on what they are willing to accept from the media.
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