Super Bowl Favorites: Students Weigh In

Whether you watched the Super Bowl for the game, the commercials, the half-time show, or you’re there for the football snacks, February 8 was a national spectacle. In response, The Cyclone Chronicle staff polled students and faculty across campus about the big day on Tuesday, Feb. 10.

Our staff writers first asked if you could book anyone to perform in the halftime show, who would you pick? A wide range of interesting answers were given. 

Many students, hands down, prefer pop artists, such as P!nk, Harry Styles, Taylor Swift, Tate McRae, Pitbull, Sabrina Carpenter, Gracie Abram, Doechii, Ariana Grande, Jennifer Lopez, Chappell Roan, Billie Eillish, Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, and Beyonce.

Other answers included rap artists, such as Cardi B, Bad Bunny, Rod Wave, Mariah the Scientist, Drake, Tory Lanez, Lil Wayne, Lil Uzi Vert, Ice Cube, G Herbo, and Macklemore.

Country artists are also favorites across campus, including Luke Bryan, Morgan Wallen, Chris Stapleton, and Luke Combs.

Other choices included, My Chemical Romance, Alice Cooper, Kid Rock, Nickleback, BTS, Marvin Sap, and Daddy Yankee.

Pollers also received an honorable mention of Michael Jackson’s 1993 halftime show, which is regarded as one of the best halftime shows ever performed. 

The second question pollers asked was what was your favorite Super Bowl commercial?

Many students across campus enjoyed the beer commercials from Budweiser and Michelob Ultra. Others liked the throw back commercials including Comcast’s Xfinity partnering with the iconic 1993 movie cast of Jurassic Park to get power at the park back on the grid  and “Good Will Dunkin,” a parody of the 1997 movie with a similar name and the same actors; Matt Damon as the unlikely math savant and Ben Affleck as his childhood friend now serving coffee.

Other favorites included:

• The funny and disturbing manscaping commercial about, well, use your imagination, sponsored by the San Diego-based male grooming company, Manscaped; 

• The Blue Square Alliance Against Hate “Sticky Note” commercial calling for Americans to stand up against antisemitism and all forms of hate; 

• The confused Coke polar bear choosing a Pepsi in a blind taste test; 

• State Farm’s “Stop Livin’ on a Prayer” parody with Bon Jovi encouraging viewers to choose real insurance coverage; 

• Sabrina Carpenter’s Pringles commercial where she builds, dates and eventually eats her romantic partner, Pringleleo;

• “Relax Your Tight End,” a PSA screening for prostate cancer ad by Novartis Pharmaceuticals featuring NFL legends and tight ends; 

• The Backstreet Boys karaoke party parody for Coinbase’s crypto currency; 

• Lady Gaga’s performance of Mr. Roger’s “Won’t you be my neighbor” for Rocket Mortgage and Redfin highlighting the value of neighbors and finding a home;

• The “What’s Your Favorite” Pokemon commercial celebrating the franchise’s 30th anniversary;

•  The “Hungry for the Truth” commercial by Uber Eats commercial where food conspiracy theorist Matthew McConaughey faces off against sports purist Bradley Cooper;

• And the Amazon Alexa commercial with Chris Hemsworth getting paranoid as his wife gets too acquainted with the upgraded AI assistant.

At least three students on campus claimed to have not watched the game, halftime show, and/or commercials and decided to give no response. 

Keep an eye out for the Super Bowl game coverage by Staff Writers Tyler Altmann and Danny Haws. And congratulations to all the Seattle Seahawks fans out there.