Monday, February 02, 2015

The Super Bowl: A Celebration of Consumption

The Super Bowl — the game that is to sports what the Mall of America is to shopping — is over. The contest between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots was admittedly more exciting than most, and Katy Perry’s halftime show was a spectacle of smoke and mirrors (literally) to be remembered. Of course, many people watching the extravaganza were as interested in the commercials as the game itself.

The championship game has really become the Corporate America Bowl, an electronic marketplace where Fortune 500 companies spend tens of millions of dollars on 30 and 60 second mini-movies, competing for the attention of a zillion prospective customers. Articles about who won the commercial wars during the event are as numerous as articles about the team that won the game.

Super Bowl Sunday is a celebration of consumption, a sacrifice of men’s bodies to the god of materialism and capitalism, a super shiny object drawing our attention from reality. It’s a violent contest continuously interrupted by companies hawking their wares. I wonder if between brawls to the death Ceasar allowed merchants to walk around the coliseum selling figs and sandals?

I know, it’s tedious and redundant to criticize the Super Bowl, but I had to get it out of my system. Can’t wait until next year.

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