Women Empowerment in Super Bowl LIII

By Nia Nelson, Junior

On February 3rd, 2019, the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams went head-to-head in the Super Bowl LIII televised to hundreds of millions. This year’s Super Bowl LIII took place at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, home of the Falcons. This Super Bowl was, however, uneventful and very predictable to most people that tuned in to the game. It was the lowest-scoring game with a record of 13-3. The most notable play of the night was a 65-yard punt, the longest in Super Bowl history, by Johnny Hekker of the Rams. New England Patriots took the win and title of six-time Super Bowl Champions. Despite the loss for the Los Angeles Rams and the lack of exciting play, there were other performance and highlights of the Super Bowl LIII. Gladys Knight, Empress of Soul, kicked off the Super Bowl with her rendition of the “Star-Spangled Banner.” Pop band, Maroon 5 headlines the halftime show joined with rappers, Travis Scott and Big Boi to get the crowds riled up. Finally, the Super Bowl advertising included women featured in big advertisements.

The Super Bowl LIII commercials included some notable features from women such as Cardi B, Serena Williams, and Antoinette “Toni” Harris. Rapper, Cardi B, takes on the Pepsi Super Bowl commercial with Steve Carell and Lil Jon. She parades in the restaurant convincing customers that Pepsi is the better choice in beverage. Then, there was American professional tennis player, Serena Williams who advocates and influence people in the Bumble—an online dating app—commercial. Serena potently says, “So make the first move.” So to speak, it was more for women even though the Bumble app is for everyone. She makes a strong message referencing tennis by saying “the ball is in her court,” leading with we make the choice and have it our way with the Bumble app. Lastly, another favorite was Antoinette “Toni” Harris starring in the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid Super Bowl commercial. Toni Harris is an aspiring female NFL player. The commercial displays her athleticism, her accomplishments, her inspiration, and the challenges of being a female with the desire to be a great professional football player. The Toyota RAV4 Hybrid is compared to Toni’s abilities. Toni expresses, “I’ve never been a big fan of assumptions” and Toyota advertises they aren’t as well and yearns to “shatter perceptions" with the RAV4 Hybrid like Toni.

Super Bowl advertisements have been geared towards women these past years and have displayed more female presence. These commercial use female empowerment, beauty, and other marketing strategies to speak to the female audience.


Since there has been an increase in the number of women watching the Super Bowl, more advertisements cater to them as viewers.  According to Rob Sikowitz's article "Data Shows Women Paid More Attention to Super Bowl LIII Than Men" on Forbes​, as of 2018, 42% of football fans were females. There isn’t a number in percentage as of now how many women tuned in Super Bowl LIII, however it is still increasing. A report from metrics platform TVision Insights shows that women watched the entertainment and the commercials more than men in these past years and now the present.

So, the advertising giants are paying more attention to females when looking at their  presence in the Super Bowl advertisements. The significance of this is that in the past attention wasn’t paid to women as influencers; now, this is more evident through these momentous advertisement during the most watched United States Event:  the Super Bowl. Not to mention, March is Women’s History Month, a time to shine the spotlight on women’s contributions and the role women play.