Ah, Super Bowl 50! Another media bonanza that a few of us old hands might notice still contains 60 minutes of football.
Another chance for advertisers lucky enough to win one of the coveted 30-second spots to dig deep — this year to the tune of $5 million per — in the hopes they can persuade viewers of the big game to do the same in days and weeks to come.
If you detect a hint of cynicism, be advised I am just getting warmed up.
This year, Variety warns notes, Beyoncé is back (who knew she was gone?) to perform at halftime. During the pause in the action, she will unveil a new single titled “Formation” along with a music video, which seems like a curious thing to include in a live performance. It reminds me of the old joke in which a man on a park bench tells a mother how adorable her baby is and is greeted with the response, “You should see her pictures!”
But I digress. Beyoncé is a political creature. Not surprisingly, “Formation” is all about racial grievance:
Set in New Orleans, the clip features shots of Bey lying on top of a sinking New Orleans police cruiser as well as a graffiti’d wall that says, “Stop shooting us.” There’s also a scene of a black child in a hoodie dancing in front of a line of police officers in riot gear. At one point a man holds up a newspaper called “The Truth” with an image of Martin Luther King Jr. on the front page captioned, “More than a dreamer.” Blue Ivy Carter, Beyonce’s daughter, also appears in the video.
Just what we all need during the big game: A reminder from a woman with an estimated net worth of $450 million of how unfair America is to her “kind.”
Be thankful for small things, I suppose. She could have arranged with protesters to occupy the field, preventing the second half from being played.
You’ll forgive me if I choose not to embed the video.
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