Well, the excitement or the furor over the Superbowl ads may have died down now that we are almost a week out. Nevertheless thinking Christian and even many secular commentators are making some helpful observations about what this year’s ads tell us about our culture is like. Some of it is encouraging and some of it is disheartening.
Jonathan How comments in “SuperBowl Ads and What They Say About Us”:
As the audience for the Super Bowl has grown over the years, so has the price tag for in-game advertising. With the higher prices, comes increased pressure on advertisers to outdo one another for memorability and influence. The result is that the “line” is pushed further and further every year. Advertisers want to have the commercial that is THE topic of discussion on social media and around the water cooler on Monday. Consequently, a polarization has occurred. We have created two Americas: a noble, inspired America and a sophomoric, risque America. Sunday night’s latest installment of commercials seemed to have brought us to a new crossroads for both audiences and advertisers: will we point to the noble or race to the bottom?
Owen Strachan comments on the ads in his piece “2013 America: Paul Harvey vs. Calvin Klein” and makes
the point that the ads reveal the cultural divide in America, or the “two Americas.” There’s Calvin Klein America, which is sexually obsessed and selfishly motivated, as seen in a ridiculous CK advertisement. Then there’s Paul Harvey America, personally virtuous and sacrificially minded, as seen in a spellbinding Dodge RAM commercial.
Owen links to a piece he wrote for the American Spectator which reads in part:
I think this is what he would see: there are polar Americas today. There is one that celebrates sex, hedonism, and self. There is another that celebrates family, sacrifice, and country. One is ultra-modern; the other is traditional. These polar Americas are competing strenuously for the hearts of citizens.
Click on the links above to see how these two Christian writes see the great divide that is growing wider it seems in our country and how Christians need to perceive and respond to this phenomenon. These are good reminders that we live in this world but we are not of this world.
