Billboard ad shows former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick near Raymond James Stadium, prior to Super Bowl LV. (Patrick Smith, Getty Images)
According to a new poll on the upcoming Big Game in commercial ads, most Americans don’t like seeing political statements from brands.
A Morning Consult poll conducted Jan. 25-26 asked dozens of questions about the Super Bowl, covering everything from the halftime show to whether watching the game is even a big deal this year. And of course many questions about the advertisements. The Super Bowl is the super bowl of advertising, so it makes sense that it would be a big part of pre-game polling.
Of the many questions about advertising, the first was about political content in branded ads. In particular, the question “In general, do you believe that it is appropriate for brands or companies to” make political statements “.
Only among adults 13% called it “very appropriate” and 23% replied that it is “somewhat appropriate”. Only 23% said it is “not too appropriate” and the largest number, 28%, selected ‘not suitable at all’. That is a majority that finds political messages in brand advertisements ‘inappropriate’.
Also in the survey, respondents were asked how much they enjoy watching Super Bowl ads in particular that make a political statement.
A little 7% of respondents said they enjoy those ads ‘a lot’, and only 15% said they like them ‘a little’. A larger 21% said they don’t enjoy it “much”, but no less 41% said they enjoy it “not at all”.
That’s 62% who don’t enjoy it or, in other words, only 7% of people really enjoy them.
In a somewhat contradictory result, the survey found that 59% of Americans find social justice posts in advertising at least somewhat appropriate, versus 28% who find these posts ‘inappropriate’ to some degree in brand advertising.
Regarding the topic of social justice messages in Super Bowl ads, 20% of adults said they like such ads “a lot” and 25% said they enjoy it “somewhat”. There were 13% who said they didn’t enjoy it “much” and 24% said they didn’t enjoy it “at all”.
Those are close numbers, with social justice coming in slightly more favorable than unfavorable, but with more people strong by then strong in front of. Nevertheless, a clearly different outcome from the questions about political statements.
Of course, if you break it down, there will be different results between different demographics. For example, men enjoyed social justice ads less often than women, but more likely than women to enjoy political statements.
Republicans, by a huge margin, don’t enjoy political statements in Super Bowl ads (68% to 12%). Democrats also don’t largely enjoy political statements in the ads, but the margin isn’t that pronounced (51% to 34%).
Among Republicans, there are ads promoting social justice not enjoyed (60%) much more than they are enjoyed (24%), while the opposite is true with Democrats, who largely enjoy (66%) posts about social justice in advertisements, rather than not enjoying it (20%).
There was also a break by party on the issue of ads promoting civil rights.
Do you have a tip we should know? [email protected]