This Sunday, two competing teams in the NFL held their final competition to see who would be declared champion of the 2025 Football Season. The Big Game was held at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, California (about an hour or south of SF, depending on traffic) and pitted the Seattle Seahawks against the New England Patriots.

Within the first quarter of the game, it was obvious that the Seahawks would win and the Patriots would have to scrounge to catch up. So if you were rooting for Seattle, congratulations, and if the Patriots are your guys, better luck next time. Anyway, that game lasted for four hours.

During the first quarter of the game, Bean was outraged when she realized the 15-minute quarter timer was actually much longer than that, due to frequent stops/breaks/huddles/whatever within the game. If we had our way, football games would be capped at three hours. If the players tie, they either accept it (represented by a romantic kiss between a representative from each team) or choose a winner via coin toss.

My family watches the game for two reasons: to have an excuse to cram junk food into our gaping maws and to watch funny commercials. We’re not deep people. Given that last year’s commercials revolved around the magic of AI and why that would be useful in everyday life (talk to ChatGPT instead of friends and receive all the validation you ever wanted they wouldn’t give you!), this year would feature similar advertisements. They did not disappoint. Well, actually, they did disappoint because they were awful commercials, but sometimes familiarity is a nice feeling.

A few memorable standouts from Sunday included:

• That State Farm commercial with the girl group Katseye, except all they did was dance for a couple of seconds. The “eyekon”-ic GAP commercial, it was not. If you’re going to feature them, at least have them sing about homeowner’s insurance being “Gnarly” or something. Or make “Gabriela” someone working at a competing insurance firm.
• A “RealFood.gov” commercial in which Mike Tyson talks about his disgusting, fat family while aggressively eating an apple. It took two seconds of digging to learn that this commercial was intended to support RFK Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement. If you go to the website, it hilariously states that the “war on protein” is over, which is ridiculous considering I saw Khloe Kardashian’s Protein-Popcorn on full display at Safeway, next to ten million other protein-packed items. Y’all, I enjoy eating apples and protein too, but damn, let the people enjoy their nachos and beer on Game Day.
• Kendall Jenner’s Sports Gambling commercial. It reminded me of the time a student gave a presentation on the awesome-ness of Sports Gambling, and I realized I really should have vetted it. Sports Gambling is kind-of-sort-of legal in some states, but given how it’s led to the harassment of athletes and funnels what is essentially a life-ruining addiction, I’m not the biggest fan.
• The Backstreet Boys-Coinbase bate-and-switch. Screw you, Coinbase. Bean and I were singing our hearts out to “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back),” and even though the tiny voice in my head said, “this is making you happy so something must be wrong,” I tuned it out for my love of the Backstreet Boys. I still sang when the line “Am I sexual?” was altered to “Am I so secure?” Then Coinbase’s logo slapped me in the face. I felt like I’d been had.
• The crappy AI commercials. Listen, I get that making friends, going to therapy, and creating your own personal workout routines is hard, but for the love of God, AI is not the solution you are craving. Yes, it is awesome that ChatGPT and those other services can poop out a cover letter for you in ten seconds, but it also wastes massive amounts of energy and potable water, and dulls your ability to think for yourself.
• That terrifying Ring Doorbell ad for the “Search Party” feature, which allows anyone to upload a photo to the Ring app and activate all the local Ring cameras in the neighborhood. The ad claimed it was to find lost dogs, but if you’re really that scared of your dog running away (like mine did), just buy it a tracker collar. Problem solved, and no need to give an unethical corporation access to your personal Ring footage, which will absolutely be used to hunt down people in the future.

With the “big game” being a big let-down and the commercials reminding us that we live in a cursed reality, all I can say is thank whoever had the idea to let Benito Antonio Martinez Orcasio, aka Bad Bunny, host the Halftime Show. Bad Bunny’s show was an incredible celebration of Latin culture and love, all while skillfully referencing legitimate social issues impacting Americans, especially those living in Puerto Rico (which is part of America, btw, in case you need a geography lesson).

I wish I could lie and say I’ve always been a Bad Bunny fan, but the truth is my music tastes tend to veer towards whatever is currently trending on Instagram and songs about conjoined twins. I only started listening to his music because he was hosting, and I desperately want to seem “with it.” Bean, on the other hand, is a massive fan, having listened to his work for years now.

It was clear Benito was under immense pressure to perform well. His music is performed entirely in Spanish, and as an artist, he’s made many political statements condemning misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, and colonialism (to name a few). He was representing not only the people of Puerto Rico, whom he has fiercely advocated for, but also all people of Latin descent living in the United States. That is a lot of weight on one man’s shoulders (not to mention the literal weight of the bulletproof vest he was rumored to wear for his own safety).

Bean and I had some hopes as to which artists he would bring out on stage with him. We were convinced Cardi B would perform with him, and had some personal theories about who else might join him (I guessed Daddy Yankee and Bean guessed Karol G). We had high expectations because Benito has proven himself to be an incredible artist with a deep sense of responsibility towards his community. Never in a million years would I have guessed Lady Gaga of all people would perform a swanky version of “Die With a Smile,” but he’s the artist, not me.

I loved the show and was very entertained throughout its run, delighting in the elaborate sets and storytelling, though I was devastated by the brevity of “Gasolina.” There wasn’t enough of it. Bean had mixed feelings, having been a longtime fan of his music and high hopes for his set list. She was initially disappointed by some of his song choices and the artists he chose to showcase (or didn’t), which is valid. She has her favorite songs, and she was sad he didn’t play them. But what was remarkable about the show was that she spent hours afterwards thinking about it, turning over songs, set pieces, and choreography in her mind. By the end of the night, she loved it.

She and I have since spoken at length about the halftime show, because it inspired such strong feelings in her. I’ve included some of our messages below, but she says it well: there was so much to pack into a brief performance. The thoughtful song choices, elaborate set designs, electric choreography, and beautiful message of unity made this a show to remember. Even though there are whiny crybabies who tried to boycott and unfairly criticize the show, those voices are unimportant. They are clinging to a false reality in which anything that doesn’t explicitly cater to their narrow worldview is a direct insult. It’s a sad way to live, and frankly, Bad Bunny’s show was the opposite of that. It was lively, colorful, and brimming with love. Sure, it could have used more “Gasolina,” but I can listen to that on my own time.

Moving forward, I’m not sure what next year’s show will look like. I have no expectations for the game itself, or as I like to call it, designated bathroom break time. Hopefully, the commercials will be a little less bleak and go back to selling us crappy beer and Doritos. Fingers crossed, the next halftime show will make Trump even angrier.

You can watch the show on Youtube.