Commercials appearing in Sunday night’s Super Bowl cost as much as $5.6 million per 30 seconds this year, reports NPR. This year’s batch included funny, emotional, serious and thought-provoking commercials, as well as political ads. But what stood out to us were the diverse, inclusive campaigns.
“The level of diverse LGBTQ inclusion from over ten brands during advertising’s biggest night, coupled with Katie Sowers’ trailblazing role on the field as offensive assistant coach of the 49ers, marked a rainbow wave at the Super Bowl this year,” said GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. “Family-friendly brands today include all families, including LGBTQ ones. GLAAD has long been advocating for brands to feature LGBTQ people in Super Bowl ads and this year American families saw and cheered a diverse range of LGBTQ icons — it’s about time.”
One year after Coca-Cola mentioned the non-binary pronoun “them” for the first time in an ad, the LGBTQ community was even better represented this year, even beyond the primary rainbow colors. Pansexuals, non-binary and even two drag queens appeared in commercials for the first time ever.
According to GLAAD, LGBTQ celebrities appeared in at least 11 inclusive ads aired during Sunday’s Super Bowl broadcast of the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the 49ers:
- Amazon Alexa: Ellen DeGeneres and wife, actress Portia de Rossi
- Budweiser: Ali Krieger & Ashlyn Harris, World Cup champions and members of the U.S. women’s national soccer team who recently married each other. The two appear after full championship team appears near the end of the ad. Budweiser also released a sweet teaser commercial featuring the couple.
- Doritos: Lil Nas X, out Grammy Award winner
- HGTV aired a promo for the reboot of ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,’ featuring out host Jesse Tyler Ferguson.
- Microsoft: Out 49ers coach Kate Sowers shared her powerful story
- Olay: Lilly Singh, bisexual host of NBC’s A Lilly Late with Lilly Singh, and the host of the GLAAD Media Awards in New York on March 19
- Pop Tarts: Jonathan Van Ness, non-binary star of Netflix’s Queer Eye
- Sabra: Drag queens Kim Chi and Miz Cracker, alumna of VH1’s “RuPaul’s Drag Race”
- Tide: Emily Hampshire, star of Schitt’s Creek, who spoke to The Advocate last week about being pansexual
- TurboTax: Transgender actresses Trace Lysette (“Transparent,” “Hustlers). and Isis King (When They See Us), as well as other LGBTQ members of the ballroom community
- Under Armour: Kelley O’Hara, a member of the U.S. women’s national soccer team, who famously kissed her girlfriend after winning the World Cup
Despite pressure from the so-called One Million Moms group, the NFL and Fox Sports did not pull the Sabra ad featuring drag queens. As we reported, GLAAD launched its own petition calling on the American Family Association and 1MM’s executive director, Monica Cole, to call it quits.
The Southern Poverty Law Center lists the parent organization of One Million Moms, the American Family Association, as a designated hate group for its anti-LGBTQ activism.
