Everything wrong with the Super Bowl 60 commercials in one conversation - EP47

This episode we chat about Harmol's trauma (that he was able to move past from) after his team, the Seattle Seahawks, won Superbowl LX. We also go over the commercials, what we liked, what was weird, and what (we thought) was absolutely wrong. What are your thoughts on the halftime show and the Serena Williams commercial? And if your NFL fan, how do you feel about Superbowl LX?

Super Bowl 60 is done and the Seattle Seahawks are Super Bowl champions. For anyone who's followed this team through the rough years — especially the Seahawks vs Patriots Super Bowl loss in 2014 — this one meant a lot. The Seahawks defense carried them all season, Mike Macdonald's coaching culture was built the right way, and Sam Darnold had a complete turnaround from where his career looked a few years ago. Kenneth Walker MVP conversations were happening for a reason. The general manager Seahawks draft picks and roster decisions over the years finally came together and the redemption arc for trauma healed Seahawks fans is real.

The Super Bowl 60 halftime show is up there with the best halftime show ever. Bad Bunny brought Puerto Rican pride to the biggest stage in sports. The Bad Bunny halftime show had Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin, the Puerto Rican flag, Latin music Super Bowl energy, and a Canada shoutout that got us. It was a genuinely inclusive halftime show. We compared it to Kendrick Lamar halftime show, Dr. Dre halftime show, Prince halftime show and talked Drake and where he fits. The Turning Point USA halftime counter-programming with Kid Rock was also happening and we got into that too.

On the Super Bowl commercials front there was a lot going on. The Ring doorbell ad raised real questions around pet tracking and AI in advertising. The Claude AI Super Bowl ad was well put together — Dr. Dre cleared his music for it which says something — and the ChatGPT ads news around Sam Altman and OpenAI moving toward advertising is worth paying attention to. The Budweiser eagle ad, Pepsi Coca-Cola bear, and the broader Super Bowl ads AI trend show where marketing psychology and emotional advertising are heading. The American commercials vs Canadian feed situation is something we touched on too.

The Serena Williams Ozempic ad was the most talked about for us. We went into GLP-1, the Wegovy ad Super Bowl placement, weight loss drugs being pushed through pharmaceutical advertising and healthcare marketing during major sports events, and what that means for sports sponsorships overall. The body image conversation, diet culture, what real healthy eating, fasting and health and fitness actually look like versus what GLP-1 Super Bowl ads are selling — all of it came up. We also got into processed food, junk food, sugar addiction, Europe vs North America food standards, food marketing, and why controversial commercials like these move freely while natural options face more scrutiny. Marketing ethics in 2025 is a conversation worth having.

00:00:00 Intro00:01:44 Sam Darnold redemption and Seahawks culture rebuild00:12:59 Super Bowl LX commercials and what's wrong with them00:15:23 Ring doorbell AI ad and surveillance controversy00:20:22 Claude AI's Super Bowl ad and ChatGPT getting ads00:27:18 Serena Williams GLP-1 (Ozempic) ad backlash 00:32:10 Do GLP-1 (Ozempic) actually work long term?00:41:49 Sugar addiction, processed food, and Europe vs North America00:58:14 Bad Bunny vs Turning Point: The halftime show war01:15:51 The future of the Super Bowl