With so many ads during the big game last night, four have messages worth hearing.
As millions tuned in to watch the Super Bowl Sunday evening, many (like myself) may have been more enticed by the commercials than the football. After a pro-life ad was banned last year, these four commercials spoke volumes in sharing the truth about the dignity of each and every human life — plus, one commercial showed a confessional!
4. Jeep’s commercial showcased Bruce Springsteen and a very tiny chapel in the middle of the country.
The vibe and imagery of Jeep’s ad is very moving, and it features one of the smallest chapels, located in Lebanon, Kansas. Starring and narrated by Bruce Springsteen, his voice begins, “There’s a chapel in Kansas standing on the exact center of the Lower 48. It never closes. All are more than welcome to come meet here in the middle.”
The commercial offers hope as we move into the new year amid division and seems to be a response to the violence the country witnessed on Jan. 6, when the U.S. Capitol building was stormed by a group of violent protesters.
“It’s no secret the middle has been a hard place to get to lately,” Springsteen says, as the camera pans to rolling plains that seem isolated. “We need the middle. We just have to remember the very soil we stand on is common ground so we can get there.”
Say what you will about what “side” you may find yourselves on, may we pray that we always find this chapel open.
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3. The Huggies commercial features a crying child, showing new life entering into the world.
What a beautiful way to begin an ad for a baby-product company: showing a newly born crying infant and welcoming it into a world of “8 billion people.” The narrator fills the newborn child in on what is around him, pointing to the fact that we were all babies and all part of families.
The Huggies’ ad is an easy win, featuring babies crying, crawling, running and sleeping — and this beautiful sentiment: “Being a baby is pretty great!”
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2. The M&M’s commercial showcased a confessional.
Candy becomes the ultimate peacemaker in the M&M’s Super Bowl ad, beginning on an airplane, where a package is given to the guy in front of one passenger who kicked the seat; but the Mars candy company shows all sorts of apologies, even a man stepping out of a confessional, offering his priest some sweets, adding, “Sorry you had to hear all of that.”
It was nice to see a company feature a confessional, especially less than two weeks away from Lent.
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1. Toyota introduces Jessica Long, Paralympic swimmer, in its Super Bowl commercial.
The winner of the 2021 Super Bowl ads soars to new heights in this beautiful masterpiece by Toyota, first showing a swimmer training in the water. She turns to glide through the water, and viewers notice she has no legs. As she swims, a phone call is overheard: It is from an adoption agency, telling a woman about a baby they have found for her.
“She’s in Siberia, and she was born with a rare condition. Her legs will need to be amputated. I know this is difficult to hear; her life won’t be easy.”
As the voice is speaking, the video continues showing a young girl gearing up for a race, and then cheers are heard as she wins. There is a pause in the message, and as the young girl looks up after her win, she sees the woman sitting at the kitchen table on the phone. The woman finally replies to the adoption-agency advocate:
“It might not be easy, but it’ll be amazing,” she says, and as she leans forward to grab her husband’s hand, she adds, “I can’t wait to meet her.”
Most of the world met Jessica Long last night. She is a 13-time Paralympic gold medalist. Born in Siberia and adopted by an American family at 13 months old, Jessica had both of her legs amputated at 18 months old. She fell in love with swimming when she was 10 and became a Christian in 2013. She spends much of her time outside of the pool visiting schools, discussing her life and helping those also living with a disability dare to dream.
Bravo, Toyota, in sharing this beautiful life and story, and may God continue to bless Jessica Long!
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