Last Sunday’s Super Bowl was the most viewed television program this year.
While many viewers tuned in for the actual football game, many others watched to see what were expected to be hilarious commercials. However, many of the commercials this year took an emotional stance and sent out bold messages.
The NFL’s PSA on domestic violence sent what was arguably the most powerful message: Domestic violence needs to stop. The commercial shows a variety of visceral shots of a home. The home looks ?beautiful at first.
However, further into the commercial we see items knocked over and walls that have been damaged. What is heard during the ?commercial is shocking. We hear a woman on the phone with a 911 operator conversing with him as if she is ordering a pizza because her abuser is in the room with her.
We then hear the operator tell her that he will be sending help. The commercial ends with these words across the screen: “When it’s hard to talk, it’s up to us to listen.”
There are many reasons the NFL might have released this commercial.
For one, it assists in the cleanup of the NFL’s public image. This season, multiple players faced charges for ?domestic violence.
The League was criticized for the leniency with which it handled the players’ punishments. It was not until thousands of fans and multiple media outlets criticized the way the League handled the situation that players were finally suspended. The NFL was also ?criticized for not supporting victims of domestic violence.
This commercial, which spreads awareness about violence and says that we need to “make it stop,” might help smooth over any leftover criticism or concerns for the organization’s treatment of domestic violence. The commercial might also have been released to make a statement of change.
This might be a strategy used by the NFL to acknowledge its past mistakes and promise to handle issues of domestic violence better in the future.
The fact that the commercial said “it’s up to us to listen” at the end may be the organization’s way of communicating its responsibility to protect victims of ?domestic violence.
Regardless of the possible public image reasons for releasing the commercial, the NFL sent a bold and important message during one of the most watched programs of the year. This commercial might encourage victims of ?domestic abuse reach out for help.
It also sent an important message to the millions of men who watched the game.
The Super Bowl was the perfect event to display a message against domestic violence because of the magnitude of its audience. It might encourage some of those viewers to help support victims of domestic violence. The NFL could have released this commercial for a variety of reasons.
Regardless of those reasons, this commercial helped the ?public focus on this very ?significant issue.
eshrack@indiana.edu
