Politics expected to shape Super Bowl ads, halftime performance

(Image credit: TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images)

published 3 February 2017

While advertisers try to avoid sending polarizing political messages in their ads for Super Bowl LI this Sunday, halftime performer Lady Gaga is expected to make a bold statement during the mid-game interim. The singer has indicated her show will "uphold" her beliefs in "a passion for inclusion" and "the spirit of equality." "I don't know if I will succeed in unifying America," Lady Gaga said. "You'll have to ask America when it's over."

Advertisers have avoided directly weighing in on America's tumultuous political climate, though Budweiser will run an ad showing founder Adolphus Busch being told to "go back home" after emigrating from Germany to the U.S., and carmaker Audi will run an ad advocating for equal pay. Meanwhile, construction company 84 Lumber nixed an ad featuring a Spanish-speaking mother and daughter at a U.S.-Mexico border wall because it was deemed "too controversial."