Super Bowl 50

Overview

Super Bowl 50 is the 50th National Football League (NFL) championship game between the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers scheduled for kick-off at Levi’s Stadium in San Francisco, California on February 7th, 2016. Experts predict that the game will be reach over 115 million households when it airs on CBS at 3:30 pm PST on February 7th, 2016, making it one of the most-viewed television events in history.^[1]

Background

Season Championship Winners

The Carolina Panthers won their NFC Championship 49-15 over the Arizona Cardinals, finishing the season with a 15-1 record and bringing the team to their second Super Bowl appearance since the founding of the franchise in 1995. Their star quarterback, Cam Newton, ran two touchdowns in that game, and celebrated each by doing the popular touchdown dance, The Dab. The Denver Broncos, who are helmed by Peyton Manning, the second-oldest quarterback to ever play and a five-time MVP, had a winning 12-4 season, beating the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship 20-18. They are one of only four teams to make it to the Super Bowl eight times.^[4] According to the experts’ prediction, the game will reach more than 115 million households when it airs on CBS at 3:30 pm (PST), which would surpass the record-setting viewership of the previous year’s Super Bowl XLIX]

The Name

In June 2014, the NFL announced that the upcoming 50th Super Bowl would be officially branded as Super Bowl 50 in Arabic numerals, departing from the long-running tradition of naming each Super Bowl game using the Roman numeral system, in order to avoid any confusion over what would have been known as Super Bowl L. The league would return to the roman numeral system for Super Bowl 51.^[2]

Halftime Show Announcement

On December 3rd, 2016, the NFL announced that the British band Coldplay would be performing the halftime show; the band were rumored to be joined by other stars such as Bruno Mars and Beyoncé] In addition, on February 2nd, the NFL announced that Lady Gaga would sing the National Anthem, and that Academy Award-winning deaf actress Marlee Matlin would perform in sign language.^[3]

Notable Developments

Super Bowl 50 Statue Defacement

As part of the promotional campaign surrounding the Super Bowl, the NFL placed statues of the number 50 around the city of San Francisco. These states were quickly defaced by residents, who created rude anagrams from the words Super Bowl and knocked the statues over.^[5] After the repeated vandalism, the NFL removed some of the statues.^[6]

A photograph of a vandalized statue

Puppy Bowl

For the 12th consecutive year, Animal Planet planned to host the Puppy Bowl, a mock football game staged with puppies for players, as a pre-game companion to the Super Bowl.^[8] The Puppy Bowl would also feature a Kitty halftime show and Chicken cheerleaders. For the first time ever, the Puppy Bowl was available as a virtual reality experience through 360° puppy practice scrimmages, available to watch before the competition’s broadcast via the Discovery VR app and YouTube 360°.^[9]

On February 3rd, 2016, as a promotional event, the taxi service Uber was delivering dogs from humane societies to visit people Chicago, New York, and Washington DC, with the opportunity for people to adopt the puppies they met. In order to meet the puppies, Uber users could find the car via it’s puppy-shaped icon.^[10]

Notable Advertisements

Some brands, like Kia, Skittles, Budweiser and the NFL, released their promotional spots in advance of their Super Bowl airing, gaining considerable views.^[11]