It's really nice to be Ad Age right now, because we get to talk about the Super Bowl without focusing much on the game itself. (See, for starters, Ad Age Editor Brian Braiker's big round-up—"Super Bowl Ad Review: We Laughed, We Cried, We Cringed"—along with just about everything on the AdAge.com homepage right now.)
Though the rest of the world has, over the years, caught up with Ad Age's obsession with Super Bowl commercials, the media at large—including the entertainment-industrial complex and social media—is still stuck talking about, you know, the Super Bowl.
It hasn't been easy.
On the eve of game day, "Saturday Night Live" ran a skit that showed representatives of the Patriots of New England (Natalie Portman, Rachel Dratch, Alex Moffat, Heidi Gardner and Luke Null) coming face-to-face with the Philadelphians (Tina Fey, Mikey Day and Kenan Thompson) in 1775—and it turns out nobody could really stand either "team" back then either:
And during "Weekend Update," Colin Jost likewise dissed both teams: "Whether you're a Pats fan or an Eagles fan, remember: Child support was due on the 1st."
For much of Sunday, Reddit focused its hatred on Patriots quarterback Tom Brady—specifically his pre-game fashion statement in a post titled "Tom Brady looks like a single, divorced mother that just won full custody of her kids and is leaving the courtroom" (click it to see what they're talking about). The Los Angeles Times sent out a news blast titled "Patriots vs. Everybody: A look at why New England is the most-hated team." Meanwhile, CBS Sports commentator Pete Blackburn addressed widespread fan dismay at the matchup—"If you're having some difficulty picking which house of horrors you would rather find yourself in, and you find yourself sitting on a fence, let me assist"—ultimately ticking off five reasons he recommended people swallow their pride and "root for the Patriots for one single day," with reason No. 5 being "Rooting for Philly fans to find joy in their lives? Could never be me."
Everybody loves an underdog—except when they don't.
Still, the underdog's triumph at least means that the top dog lost. See, for instance, this burn from my colleague Judy Pollack:
Poor Tom Brady. He must be deflated. #SuperBowl
— Judann Pollack (@judy_pollack) February 5, 2018
Judy's approach—ribbing the face of the Pats for failure without explicitly mentioning the team that actually won—seems to be a widespread tact today. So let's hand it to the Daily News, which devotes its front page this morning to dissing the Pats and the Eagles: