Super Bowl's commercials are overshadowed by the big game and halftime show

Super Bowl's commercials are overshadowed by the big game and halftime show

Transcript¹

The Los Angels Rams² beat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 in Sunday's Super Bowl. The game and halftime show eclipsed a collection of uninspired commercials.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

A fourth-quarter touchdown with less than two minutes left on the clock clinched³ a Super Bowl win for the LA Rams over the Cincinnati Bengals. Sunday's big game also featured an epic⁴ hip-hop performance. NPR TV critic Eric Deggans says it was an odd situation where the game and the halftime show actually overshadowed a largely uninspiring collection of commercials.

ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE⁵: The Super Bowl's halftime performance, which featured powerhouse appearances from Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, 50 Cent, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar, was a coming out party that was long overdue⁶. Hip-hop's been at the center of pop culture for decades but hadn't fully⁷ occupied center stage at the Super Bowl halftime until this moment.

One commenter I saw on social media called it the Blackest Super Bowl halftime in history, and it certainly felt that way as the group performed hallowed hits like 50 Cent's "In Da Club," Eminem's "Lose Yourself" and Mary J. Blige singing her heart out on signature cuts like "No More Drama." And despite rumors⁸ before the game that the NFL had asked him not to do it, Eminem did kneel during the halftime show, a tribute to former NFL star Colin Kaepernick and other players who've taken criticism for kneeling to protest police brutality⁹. All of this added up to a powerful artistic¹⁰ statement that seemed much more impressive than the commercials which surrounded the game action.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JENNIFER COOLIDGE: If it was delivered with Uber Eats, does that mean I can eats it?

DEGGANS: That's from one of the odder commercials Sunday, featuring Jennifer Coolidge and other stars trying to eat pencils, paper towels and other nonedible stuff that Uber Eats has now also started to deliver.

A little more fun was BMW's ad featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Greek god Zeus, frustrated¹¹ in his retirement¹² by people always asking him to charge their golf carts.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) Yo, Zeus, a little juice.

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER: (As Zeus) That's it. I'm done with this place.

SALMA HAYEK: (As Hera) We'll see about that.

DEGGANS: Salma Hayek, playing Zeus' wife Hera, gets him an electric BMW car to ease his blues¹³.

Google's ad featured Black people who have often grappled with cameras and photography aligned¹⁴ to work better with white faces.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: People with darker complexions¹⁵ have always struggled with having good lighting¹⁶.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Every single yearbook photo of mine has been terribly shot since I was a kid.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: I always show up as too dark or shiny.

LIZZO: (Singing) 'Cause if you love me, you love all of me.

DEGGANS: As Lizzo sings an unreleased song, the ad suggests that the new Real Tone software on Google's Pixel 6 smartphones will better capture darker skin tones, offering concrete achievement on a persistent¹⁷ problem.

There were also a few ads that offered a little low-key shade. Salesforce presented a commercial narrated¹⁸ by Matthew McConaughey encouraging the audience to focus on the Earth's problems while taking a subtle swipe at folks like SpaceX's Elon Musk¹⁹ and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY: So while the others look to the metaverse and Mars, let's stay here and restore ours. Yeah, it's time to blaze our trail. Because the new frontier - it ain't rocket science. It's right here.

DEGGANS: But one of the more interesting ads featured a showbiz power couple, superstar actress Scarlett Johansson and her husband, "Saturday Night Live" star Colin Jost, for Amazon's Alexa. While displaying how Alexa might work if it could read their minds, the ad featured the digital assistant playing an interesting song while the couple was talking.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

COLIN JOST: When you have to do those love scenes with hot guys, is that fun, or is that, like, the worst?

SCARLETT JOHANSSON: It's the worst.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LITTLE LIES")

FLEETWOOD MAC: (Singing) Tell me lies. Tell me sweet, little lies.

DEGGANS: In the end, these were the ads which worked best in the Super Bowl's elevated showcase - personal and cheeky with a little bit of painful honesty.

I'm Eric Deggans.

(SOUNDBITE OF COOK AND STANDS' "FINDING ATLANTIS")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 rams   

n.公羊( ram的名词复数 )；(R-)白羊（星）座；夯；攻城槌v.夯实（土等）( ram的第三人称单数 )；猛撞；猛压；反复灌输

参考例句：

• A couple of rams are butting at each other. 两只羊正在用角互相抵触。 来自辞典例句
• More than anything the rams helped to break what should have been on interminable marriage. 那些牡羊比任何东西都更严重地加速了他们那本该天长地久的婚姻的破裂。 来自辞典例句

3 clinched   

v.（尤指两人）互相紧紧抱[扭]住( clinch的过去式和过去分词 )；解决（争端、交易），达成（协议）

参考例句：

• The two businessmen clinched the deal quickly. 两位生意人很快达成了协议。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Evidently this information clinched the matter. 显然，这一消息使问题得以最终解决。 来自辞典例句

4 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 overdue   

adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的

参考例句：

• The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了，被坏天气耽搁了。
• The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了，因为房租过期未付。

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

8 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 brutality   

n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军

10 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

11 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

13 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

14 aligned   

adj.对齐的，均衡的

参考例句：

• Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard.务必使搁架与橱柜顶端对齐。

15 complexions   

肤色( complexion的名词复数 )； 面色； 局面； 性质

参考例句：

• Dry complexions are replenished, feel soft, firm and smooth to the touch. 缓解肌肤的干燥状况，同时带来柔嫩、紧致和光滑的出众效果。
• Western people usually have fairer complexions than Eastern people. 由于人种不同，西方人的肤色比东方人要白很多。

16 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

17 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

18 narrated   

v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Some of the story was narrated in the film. 该电影叙述了这个故事的部分情节。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Defoe skilfully narrated the adventures of Robinson Crusoe on his desert island. 笛福生动地叙述了鲁滨逊·克鲁索在荒岛上的冒险故事。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

19 musk   

n.麝香, 能发出麝香的各种各样的植物，香猫

参考例句：

• Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。
• She scented her clothes with musk.她用麝香使衣服充满了香味。