Super Bowl half-time show does not blast-off to Mars

By KUTOOF ALWAZIR

Families and friends get together once a year during the first week of February to tune into the biggest game of the season, the NFL Super Bowl! The game was a blowout, with the Seahawks winning with the largest margin win of an underdog in history.

 During the Super Bowl broadcast the average amount of Television viewers more than doubles. For this reason, the Super bowl halftime show always brings in big name performers to wow the crowd. This year the half time show was performed by Bruno Mars and The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Large revenues are paid for commercial space before, during and after the show.

Every year famous artists give memorable performances, from Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson in 2004, The Rolling Stones in 2006 and Beyoncé in 2013. Bruno Mars opened the show with kids singing the first verse of his song “Billionaire.”

Mars wore wearing a golden jacket, bringing a 1960s-esque  to the performance. He then transitioned into singing his hit single Locked out of “Heaven.”

His voice was raw and hit all the right notes, which showcased his unique style. “Treasure” transitioned to “Runaway Baby”, blending the two songs to pump up the crowd for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Personal messages from meembers U.S. Military were shown as a backdrop during Mars’ performance of “Just the Way You Are,” an emotional moment during the show.

Despite this play on emotion, Bruno Mars’s performance seemed lacking for Super Bowl standards. It was a performance that left you neither excited nor disappointed.

“It was good, but it wasn’t spectacular. I liked Bruno Mars more than the Red Hot Chili Peppers,” said Nick Boyd, a sophomore social environmental science major.  “Bruno Mars could have done something to make it more memorable. It was just a show, not a Super Bowl show.”

Commercials are also a huge aspect of the Super Bowl culture. In 2014 the Super Bowl brought in 111.5 million viewers and placed a four million dollar price tag on a 30-second ad space, according to CBS.

This years advertisements consisted of Coca-Cola, Budweiser, movie trailers and car advertisements. However, the commercials were not a fan favorite either during this year’s game.

“The commercials were bad throughout the entire game. The past few years they’ve been going downhill. The only real brand names that will put effort into making a good commercial are Budweiser and Doritos,” said Paul Crowley.

Coca-Cola centered around the song “America the Beautiful” sung in different languages, promoting the fact that America is a melting pot. The only good commercial was an endearing Budweiser commercial about a horse and a puppy determined to stay together.

Overall, the entire Super Bowl experience was somewhat disappointing, lacking the usual wow factors the show usually possesses.