Kanye West’s Super Bowl Ad: Shocking Twist

by

During Sunday evening’s Super Bowl broadcast, Kanye West’s Yeezy.com advertisement left viewers bewildered due to its unusual ambiance. However, what followed left the station managers who aired it and media professionals who approved the ad even more astonished: Immediately after the commercial was shown, West redesigned the website, replacing its original content with a single product – a T-shirt bearing a swastika symbol, priced at $20 per item.

Prior to the airing of the advertisement, the Yeezy.com website showcased a Shopify-operated store with various non-branded clothing items such as shirts, trousers, and jackets. Nothing about this selection raised any content concerns. It’s important to note that EbMaster corroborates this fact, as the reporter quickly checked the site following the Los Angeles broadcast of the ad. At the time the advertisement was first aired, the swastika T-shirt was not visible on the site. Here’s an illustration of the pre-ad and post-ad states:

Before the Ad: Various non-branded clothing items (shirts, pants, jackets)
After the Ad: Swastika T-shirt appeared

Shortly after the advertisement aired in Los Angeles and other regions, West quickly changed the item displayed, leaving viewers to see only a $20 white t-shirt bearing a swastika symbol. By then, the commercial had already been broadcast, and any modifications were no longer possible.

Insiders confirm that the Yeezy.com advertisement underwent legal scrutiny and was approved, as there were no content-related concerns with the 30-second ad itself. The ad is considered low-budget, having been filmed on an iPhone, featuring Kanye West seemingly in a dentist’s chair, awkwardly saying, “Hey guys, I spent all my money on these new teeth for the commercial, so once again, I had to shoot it on the iPhone. Um… um… go to yeezy.com.

The advertisement appeared on three Fox stations, such as KTTV Los Angeles, and could have been viewed in a few additional local markets. This isn’t the first time West has bought a local ad spot during the Super Bowl; there was one displayed on at least one small-market CBS affiliate in 2024. However, that previous advertisement ran without any issues.

Previously, there were numerous signs that advertising to West could pose difficulties. This entertainer, known for hip-hop music, publicly declared himself a supporter of Nazism, and his account was terminated following multiple days of posting hateful and discriminatory remarks, including praising himself as a Nazi and referring to Hitler in a positive light.

Regarding the recent controversies on social media, the Yeezy advertisement continued to progress, although it may have slipped under the radar slightly due to being a unique ad bought by a limited number of regional markets. Many of these ads are for local enterprises such as law firms and car dealerships; in Los Angeles, for instance, the ad that followed the Yeezy spot was for the California Lottery. As long as it doesn’t breach the standards & practices guidelines, it often gets broadcasted.

Consequently, West’s advertisement didn’t receive the thorough examination typically associated with large-scale Super Bowl ads. Since there were no inappropriate elements in the ad and at that time the website didn’t offer a swastika t-shirt, once it was deemed legal, it was probably added to the local advertising rotation without much further consideration or attention.

One source commented, ‘Given how modest the advertisement was, I doubt people made the connection.’ They went on to explain, ‘Although the text and the site were neatly presented, they still took care in investigating every aspect of it.’

Neither Fox TV Stations nor their advertising agency, USIM, provided a response when asked for comments regarding the Yeezy.com advertisement.

Advertisements shown locally in significant markets during the Super Bowl can run up to several hundred thousand dollars per spot – considerably less than the cost of a nationwide ad, but still quite pricey. Unconventional advertisers frequently opt for local spots over national ones during the Super Bowl, as it allows them to save money and avoid drawing too much attention.

Shopify declined to respond to a request for comment. According to Ronn Torossian, a veteran in crisis public relations, Shopify is committing a significant PR blunder by permitting Kanye West to sell a shirt adorned with a swastika on their platform. The CEO of 5WPR further stated that there is no justification for Shopify enabling such sales, and from a crisis management perspective, this needs to be addressed. Selling a shirt bearing the primary symbol of the Nazis, which signifies the death of six million Jews, is reprehensible.

Read More

2025-02-11 03:18