After every Super Bowl, I go on air with our local ESPN Radio affiliate to talk about key trends and standout performers from the annual slate of high-profile advertisers that seek the visibility of the largest televised event in America. As marketers, we understand that in a fragmented media landscape, massive live viewership creates a platform for brands to make big statements. Or at least brands used to make big statements.

In 2023, Bud Light found itself in the crosshairs of societal division and identity politics that have overtaken the United States. As a result of standing up for transgender rights, AB InBev shares fell by nearly 20%. Within months of Bud Light’s purpose-driven campaign, the brand had lost its spot as the No. 1 selling beer in the country.

From that moment, concern flowed through the advertising world and into Super Bowl 2024, where marketers spent $7 million for 30-second spots in which safe, sensible chuckles from celebrity gags ruled the day.

In the wake of Bud Light’s experience, brands have largely ducked. Some large corporations have sheepishly retreated from their very public commitments to corporate social responsibility out of fear of alienating portions of their customer base. But do they have to? It got us wondering what the new safe spaces of brand purpose might be.

Unification through shared values

America is divided, and people feel it daily. While one could see this as a short-term issue in an election year, research indicates that most people feel division is here to stay for the foreseeable future. Some politicians have even absurdly called for a “national divorce.” It is fraying the fabric of America, and people are concerned. Companies should be, too. When concern goes up, consumer confidence goes down.

Yet an overwhelming percentage of Americans want to feel more connected as a country. Politicians and the news media are blamed, while brands are generally seen as the least responsible for societal divisions. This is where the opportunity lies. Brands have a unique chance to become leading voices in bridging divides.

Global marketers can start their pursuit of insight by looking for commonalities across countries and cultures rather than divisions. And despite all the bluster and tough talk coming from both sides of the U.S. divide, commonalities still exist across age, race, geography and even political affiliation.

From where we sit in the middle of the nation, these commonalities are the shared values of the American experience: hard work, truth and honesty, our collective freedoms, tolerance and love of country. And while few politicians subscribe to these values themselves, most Americans do. Brands can, too.

What this isn’t is a call for brands to wrap themselves in the American flag, there are myriad ways brands can help with the centrally important task of helping to bridge American divides. Positively, a few brands in recent years have shown the way with fantastic work.

Heineken’s 2017 “Worlds Apart” campaign showed how people with vastly differing points of view can bond after being given a simple task that requires them to work together. Although panned by some for being overly simplistic, watching the spot was the top-scoring method of reducing partisan animosity, Stanford University researchers discovered in a study five years later.

Wieden+Kennedy’s “A Coke is a Coke” spot just before the national anthem in the 2019 Super Bowl was a call to unity with a reminder that the simple joy of a Coca-Cola is a shared experience across definitions of difference punctuated with its “Together is beautiful” tagline.

Imagine what could be accomplished if a chorus of brands, supported in part by the $350 billion spent on U.S. advertising each year, pursued authentic reminders that we’re all in this together.

Three potential areas for consideration for marketers:

Emphasize shared values

Research indicates that if the altruism they take on is in pursuit of a more unified country, most Americans give brands permission to talk about more than they sell. Specifically, people feel that emphasizing shared American values is the most effective way for brands to foster unity. By focusing on values such as hard work, honesty and the importance of freedom for all, brands can operate in a safe space that transcends political and social divides.

This is probably not bad advice for the Thanksgiving table this year, too. Leading with shared values positions brands as unifying forces, moving beyond the risk of divisive campaigns that might alienate certain audiences. Through this, brands can foster connection without compromising authenticity.

Think of “purpose” in the macro and micro

While many examples of brand purpose in recent years have rightly given a voice to the

underrepresented, marketers might avoid blowback by considering purpose in tiers. Shared values and social issues are not always at odds and in some cases, are naturally interconnected.

I can’t help but think that Dylan Mulvaney’s involvement with Bud Light would have been much more difficult to criticize under the larger banner of the importance of protected freedoms for all. This is, in fact, something the Budweiser brand did in a completely unrelated way in 2022 with its limited edition “Freedom” cans. Highlighting examples of the importance of freedom for everyone across the political spectrum might have created a different outcome for the company.

Create shared community experiences

Many Americans believe that brands can authentically promote unity by creating opportunities for shared community experiences. My wife often jokes about the inordinate amount of time I spend online watching dog videos. But I can’t help but think there is a lesson in one of those videos. In it, dogs bark aggressively at each other through a closed gate. When the gate is opened and the barrier is removed, the aggression is gone, and their tails start wagging.

Community events and shared experiences can be that, too. Stripped of the anonymity and perceived distance of social media, physical events can open the gate and put us all together sharing interests and positive experiences as Americans.

The division in America won’t end with the results of the 2024 election. People are tired and looking for signs that we can be a country again. As brands plan for 2025 and beyond, they should consider how they might become agents of connection—leading with the values that unite us and creating experiences that foster real-world community building. That seems like a purpose we can all get behind.