During our Ethics in Communications class this week, we discussed the (lack of) ethics in different Super Bowl Adds.
Some people watch the Super Bowl for the game, and some people watch it for the commercials. Companies are more than willing to pay millions for a thirty-second advertising time slot during the Super Bowl. Annually, around 100 million people (or more) tune into the big game. With such a large tune-in, companies do not think twice about dropping a pretty penny to be featured. Most companies have a similar top goal: to be remembered. The craziest, weirdest, and sometimes offensive commercials are created just for this special night. One of the most memorably simple and unproblematic commercials was Lil Jon’s Pepsi advertisement, with his catchphrase, “Okay!”
The Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams happened over the weekend. Embedded throughout the game were the commercials, the primary reason why a good portion of Americans watch the game. While some of the commercials were light-hearted and alluded to upcoming movies and television shows, other commercials were more problematic and shady.
The Bud Light commercial this year was ruthless to say the least. The commercial itself bragged about the fact that their beer does not feature corn syrup, unlike their other competitors like Coors Light and Miller Lite. While some consumers did not see a problem with the ad itself, various corn farmers and competitors companies think otherwise.
According to the National Corn Growers Association, they felt insulted by Bud Light because they did not support their industry and Bud Light made it seem like corn syrup was terrible and other companies who use corn syrup are inferior to them, which harms both the competitors and the corn farmers. Within their statement, they also thanked Bud Light’s competitors for supporting their industry and not throwing them under the bus,
While Bud Light released a statement via Twitter regarding the #corntroversy, it did not stop the damage from being done. Even though commercials like these happen all the time, this particular issue proves to be unethical because it harms employers outside Bud Light and their competitors. Had the commercials poked fun at their competitors in a more creative and less offensive way, maybe the commercial would not have been so controversial.
This is for you, Bud Light
Bee Ethical 