Super Bowl 52: A Sociological Analysis

On Sunday, February 4th, 2018 Super Bowl 52, an annual ‘holiday’ of sorts for the Western world commenced. This multimillion-dollar event has been identified as a sociological phenomenon in which 99% of Americans have heard about or seen an ad for. Not only its effects, but simultaneously its influences can be measured over all groups and societies regardless of social class. this occurrence has various sociological aspects rooted within it, such as the three main assumptions: structural functionalism, conflict perspective and symbolic interaction theory. If we were to pick at and examine these socially influenced relationships from a Functionalist Theorist’s point of view, which was developed with the aid of H. Spencer, E. Durkheim, T.

While the male dominated sport overshadows any kind of change, it completely dismisses groups struggling for exploitation. Moreover, had a specific social group taken advantage of the Super bowl and used it as a platform for activism, the response would be outrage because “change is disruptive” Take for instance, Super Bowl XLVII (2016) and the immaculate but controversial performance of Beyoncé Gisselle Knowles-Carter and Bruno Mars to “Formation”, known as possibly the best Super Bowl performance to date. This socially influenced performance caused so much outrage due to her homage to the Black Panther activist group which tackled racially influenced violence and police brutality. This did not settle too well with the white male run patriarchy behind the Super Bowl. This change, although highly disruptive sparked something within the communities that were previously overshadowed by the patriarchy and upper class, it sparked a sort of renaissance and resistance with not only the black community but also social groups who had ever felt oppressed. This, once conservative sport, was molded into something that appealed to all audiences, regardless of

The commercials that are highly anticipated annually always have an A-list celebrity promoting some product or another, it’s an appeal to those who think “If they have it, then I must have it.” Usually the main audience these promotion commercials are targeted are those in a lower social class, such as ghettos and low-income cities. These people of a lower social class see this celebrity and their products and think, according to the Symbolic Interactionist Theory, that they need it in order to be seen as a different person, much like the celebrities; these average people try to reflect the bravado of these upper-class individuals. All of the previously stated stances, both pros and cons considered, add to the diversity and synergy within the Structural Functionalism Theory, Conflict Perspective Theory and Symbolic Interaction Theory and how they are all crucial for specific functions within the Super Bowl. Likewise, there is a sense of codependency within America and the Super Bowl and these sociological factors contribute to the profit and positive social interaction, the need to conform to the Super Bowl time contributes greatly in shaping just