Beyonce Won The Super Bowl, But MINI Won The Advertising Game

In case you missed it, yesterday was Super Bowl Sunday. The game itself wasn’t that interesting, at least not while the ball was in play. But there were three especially memorable moments during the broadcast:

1. Lady Gaga singing the national anthem. A decade or two ago, Gaga’s loud-and-proud support for the LGBT community would’ve doomed her chances of nabbing such an all-American, conservative gig. To me, her presence — and the fact that folks on both ends of the political spectrum have applauded her performance — showed just how mainstream being a straight ally is these days.

2. Beyonce’s performance of “Formation”. Admittedly, her lip-synch game wasn’t always on point, and she came close to stumbling on one particularly deep drop, but you can’t deny the woman’s got stage presence. By the time she was done, everyone watching was like, “Who’s Coldplay”?

3. MINI’s #DefyLabels ad. We talk a lot about “gay cars” around here. It’s a label that many automakers work overtime to shrug off. MINI took a slightly different approach, first acknowledging what people say about its pint-sized powerful rides, then reminding everyone that those labels are just words. Basically, MINI did as many of us did when we came out: it said, “Screw the haters, I am what I am”. The ad includes soccer legend and valiantly out lesbian Abby Wambach, who’s also featured in this longer clip, explaining how she’s dealt with labels in her lifetime.