The NFL’s Bad Bunny Bet: Culture, Risk, and Why Brands Played It Safe
The reflections in this article are drawn from the latest episode of The New Mainstream podcast, featuring Michelle O’Grady, Founder and CEO of Team Friday. In the conversation, we explored what the Super Bowl halftime show revealed about culture, risk, and the widening gap between where audiences are and where many brands still feel comfortable operating.
Super Bowl LX was not just a sporting moment. It was a cultural one. While the NFL rolled out multimillion dollar ads and brands leaned into the safety of familiar formulas, the performance that captured global attention was not a 30 second commercial. It was the halftime show headlined by Bad Bunny, a spectacle deeply rooted in identity, community, and Latino culture.
Although the performance was celebrated by millions and watched by more than 128 million viewers, many brands chose to play it safe. Instead of participating in a cultural conversation unfolding in real time, they retreated to traditional creative structures. That choice offers a strategic lesson for marketing, research, and brand leadership teams.
More than entertainment: A visible cultural narrative
Bad Bunny did not approach the halftime show with a neutral set. His performance was filled with cultural symbolism, from scenes reminiscent of Caribbean neighborhoods to the inclusion of figures like Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin, along with a “casita” that symbolized home, community, and cultural heritage.
Most notably, the performance was delivered primarily in Spanish, without translation. It reinforced that Latino culture can occupy the center of a stage historically dominated by Anglo narratives.
For millions of Latinos, this was not just a performance. It was an act of historic visibility, both for Puerto Rican culture and for the diverse Latin American identities present across the United States.
Why did so many brands play it safe?
Super Bowl campaigns often follow predictable paths:
- Humor designed to appeal to everyone.
- Nostalgic references without controversy.
- Familiar celebrities detached from cultural context.
This approach aims to minimize risk. But it also limits deep cultural relevance among audiences that no longer consume monolithic messages.
While Bad Bunny embraced his identity, language, symbolism, and roots, many brands stayed within comfortable zones. Not because they did not want to connect, but because they were not accustomed to participating with cultural context, meaning, or authentic narrative.
This is not a critique of specific creative executions. It is a strategic observation.
When the cultural conversation is strong, playing it safe can mean opting out of the very dialogue shaping your category.
Culture is not aesthetic representation. It is context and meaning.
A key theme in the discussion around the halftime show has been the distinction between visibility and cultural fluency.
It is possible to appear diverse on stage without truly speaking from culture. But Bad Bunny did something different. He told a cultural story that was recognizable and meaningful to his community, even when most of the content was in Spanish. That decision disrupted expectations of “neutral entertainment” at a global event.
This depth matters for brands that want to move beyond surface level representation:
- It is not enough to feature diverse faces.
- It is not enough to reference music or visual aesthetics.
- The strategic challenge lies in understanding the deeper meaning behind cultural symbols and articulating them with respect, authenticity, and purpose.
Three strategic lessons for brands and marketing teams
- Cultural specificity does not dilute reach. It expands it.
Bad Bunny demonstrated that cultural specificity does not limit resonance. His show reached more than 128 million viewers, and his music saw significant streaming increases, including traditional tracks.
The principle is clear. When brands speak from authenticity, the message can travel farther than when it conforms to neutrality. - Avoiding politics does not make a brand neutral. It can make it irrelevant.
Culture and politics, especially around identity, immigration, and representation, are already part of consumers’ lived realities. Ignoring them does not remove them. It simply leaves a vacuum others will fill. - Culture moves faster than many internal organizational structures.
Pop culture and digital communities evolve rapidly. Organizations with rigid processes often struggle to keep pace. The new mainstream is not waiting for brands to decode cultural signals in hindsight.
Some brands chose safety. Others now have the opportunity to demonstrate that they understand more than the surface of culture. They understand its context, its history, and its emotional power.
In the new cultural economy, what moves markets is not only what is seen. It is what is felt, understood, and shared.
Listen to the full episode of The New Mainstream podcast to hear Michelle O’Grady, Founder and CEO of Team Friday, discuss how culture, risk, and strategy shape major brand decisions.
Meet our Guest:
Michelle O’Grady is a communications strategist, media psychologist, and speaker focused on belonging, identity complexity, and organizational transformation. With over 20 years of experience advising foundations, public health leaders, and global brands like Google and AARP,Michelle brings a rare blend of lived experience, research, and real-world strategy to understanding cultural ecosystems and multi-hyphenated people. She is the founder of Team Friday, a creative agency advancing cultural fluency across media, policy, and marketing.
Michelle holds a master’s degree in Media Psychology and is currently pursuing her PhD in Human and Organizational Development.