The Los Angeles Post

Best of Super Bowl Ads Feature Inclusive Messages, Highlight Sustainability Practices and Urge Us to Donate

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Friday, February 7, 2020 – 10:00am

Whether you’re a football fan or just watching for the commercials, the Super Bowl is a culmination of the year’s best in football and advertising. In this year’s line-up of advertisements, many companies emphasized LGBTQ-friendly and women-centric messages, highlighted sustainability practices, and urged us to donate to causes close to our hearts. Here’s a roundup of ads that caught our eye:

  • Microsoft aired an advertisement celebrating San Francisco 49ers offensive assistant Katie Sowers, the first woman to coach in the NFL and in the Super Bowl. The spot emphasizes the importance of women in leadership positions. In additional to being the first woman to coach the Super Bowl, she’s also the first-openly LGBTQ person to do so. This year’s game also represented another historic first for the LGBTQ community with drag queens appearing in a Super Bowl ad for the first time. RuPaul’s Drag Race alumni Kim Chi and Miz Cracker made history in a commercial for hummus brand Sabra. Women’s rights and LGBTQ rights represent two top-of-mind issues that Gen Z consumer want companies to address, according to the 2019 Cone/Porter Novelli Gen Z Purpose study.

  • Olay used its Super Bowl advertisement to promote its pledge to donate up to $500,000 to Girls Who Code, a nonprofit that engages young women in computer science and STEM activities, with a space-themed ad. The spot includes a call to action to use the hashtag #MakeSpaceforWomen on Twitter to increase the company’s donation. The commercial featured former NASA astronaut Nicole Stott, along with journalist Katie Couric, actress Taraji P. Henson, comedian Busy Phillips, and YouTube personality Lilly Singh. By demonstrating social impact, Olay is tapping into one of the top ways that Americans feel companies should demonstrate their Purpose and providing opportunities for the next generation of women who aspire to careers in science.

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