‘Bloody hell. They really go all out, don’t they?’ I said to my housemate as we watched the opening gambits of the Super Bowl. There was a bit where Queen Latifah sang ‘America the Beautiful’ with a military choir. There was a bit where a huge star-spangled banner was unfurled across the turf as a weathered soprano belted out the anthem. There was even a bit where a cheerleader from Denver led the Broncos out on a tremendous white horse that, understandably, seemed terrified of the fireworks, baying crowd and probably the possessed-looking peroxide blonde woman on its back. During the anthem, we saw cutaways to troops serving overseas who made a return with recorded tributes during Bruno Mars’ half-time extravaganza. The spectacle was one of unabashed, unrelenting Americanism – and it was impressive.
Today, a day fuelled by chocolate and anything containing guarana extracts, I’ve made my way through the much-feted commercials to see what our chums in the US would have seen on their TVs during the game. Three ads stood out:
1) Here’s Chrysler’s soul-stirring effort featuring Bob ‘advertising songs they con you into thinking you’re the one’ Dylan. Bob gives a stirring account of how Detroit, and specifically Chrysler, built America. A few years ago, the same brand employed Eminem to clutch at the star-spangled heartstrings with a rousing call from the increasingly dilapidated Motor City.
2) Coca-Cola also stepped forward with this ad championing a modern USA. Rather than teaching the world to sing, Coke had Americans sing ‘America the Beautiful’ in a variety of languages. Naturally, the US conservative media, most notably Fox’s Todd Starnes, went into a meltdown similar to the aforementioned horse.
3) Alongside ‘that’ ad with the puppy, Budweiser also created a piece of content about a welcome home event they funded for a serviceman on his way back from Afghanistan. It’s certainly moving, particularly the moments featuring Vietnam vets, and it no doubt had middle-aged Midwestern men shouting ‘GOD BLESS AMERICA!’ as they swiped tears from their ruddy cheeks.
Whether it was cars, pop or booze, the foundation of these ads was the same as that which opened the Super Bowl itself: America. Unerringly patriotic and shamelessly saccharine, each of these ads saw their respective brands seeking to connect with American national identity, whether through its industry, military, or multiculturalism.
Jump forward three months. It’s the FA Cup final. After the Wembley crowd has sung along to ‘White Cliffs of Dover’ performed by a Vera Lynn hologram while John Terry leads Chelsea out on the back of the old English sheepdog from the Dulux ads, we reach half-time. As Susan Boyle performs a stripped-back version of ‘London’s Calling’, Gary Lineker shares his crisps with Meera Syal, Lenny Henry and the Romanian chap cornered by Keith Vaz at Luton Airport. They eat salt and vinegar in the shadow of the Angel of the North, cheese and onion on a pedalo in Hyde Park, and finish with prawn cocktail in Wootton Bassett.
While this would have Nigel Farage knocking over his Boddingtons in his desperate search for tissues, for many of us, it’d be awkward. In the popular conscience, English identity is fast becoming the preserve of Godfrey Bloom, balaclava-sporting EDLers, and Paul Dacre. While in the odd instance, such as the jubilee or Andy’s Wimbledon triumph, we let ourselves get carried away in some light patriotic fervour; it seems we are becoming increasingly uncomfortable with celebrating being English.
Advertising messages reflect this. Though there are some notable exceptions such as Hovis’s through the ages ad, our advertising tends not to play for shivering hairs and tingling spines with regards to Englishness. Pimms will offer up seasonable caricatures and, during this summer’s World Cup, we can expect to see sports brands aligning themselves with the national team, but it is a staggering contrast to the adverts sandwiched in the Super Bowl.
Should brands in the UK use national identity as a selling point? Does being ‘the nation’s favourite’ carry the punch it once did? Or is it best to keep Gary fighting with Lionel Richie in the name of irreverence?