Our Viewpoint

The Big Game is coming up. On February 7, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will meet in Tampa and play the 55th NFL championship game.

The Super Bowl is pretty much a national holiday in the United States. We've often heard chatter the Monday after saying that should be a holiday for offices, especially on the East Coast where the game doesn't start until after 8 p.m. Super Bowl Sunday is a day full of snacks and competitive banter and betting pools amongst your friends.

Even more entertaining than the actual game or the celebrity-sprinkled halftime show, to many, are the commercials. There are websites dedicated specifically to showing videos and ranking the best commercials. There is more analysis the Monday after the Super Bowl of the commercials than the actual play.

This year, many large companies are forgoing their normal Super Bowl ads, which can costs millions of dollars and take years to plan. Companies such as Coca-Cola, Ford, Pepsi and even Budweiser with its iconic Clydesdales have decided not to advertise during this year's broadcast. Coca-Cola released a statement saying "this difficult choice was made to ensure we are investing in the right resources during these unprecedented times."

From the pandemic and political climate to movements such as Black Lives Matter, advertisers have a tough choice when deciding whether to spend money on ads, to weigh in on issues or just give people a good laugh.

Anheuser-Busch announced Monday that they would not be advertising in the Super Bowl for the first time in more than 35 years, instead using the marketing dollars to support COVID-19 vaccine awareness. It's hard to argue with a move like that.

The Big Game will look different, and you can expect that the advertising will, too. Perhaps the focus will go back to the game and celebrating the teams.