"911, I'd Like to Order a Pizza"

The Super Bowl is more than just the annual National Football League championship game- it is a trademark of American culture, and arguably a favorite day of the year for many. Aside from the obvious reason people watch the Super Bowl- to see the football game- millions of people tune in to the game to watch the most talked-about commercials of the year.

One of the most memorable commerials from this year's game, Super Bowl XLIX, was the anti-domestic violence PSA which showed a torn-up house with no one inside. There was a voice-over of a 911 call in which the woman talking to the 911 operator seemed to be ordering a pizza. In reality, she was in need of professional help and couldn't say why because her abusive boyfriend was in the room. (Yes, this is a true story.) I cannot adequately explain this ad in words, so please read the transcript of the actual 911 call or watch the actual video below:

On the surface, this seems like an incredibly powerful PSA against a very important and relevant problem, and it is. If we dig a little deeper, though, we realize that the NFL is trying to change it's image; we all know how often NFL players have been charged with domestic abuse as of late. Doesn't it seem ironic that the NFL has decided this year to pair with "No More," an organization against domestic violence, and to air a very expensive PSA against abuse, after all the bad press with NFL players being abusive this year? While I completely support anti-domestic abuse organizations and realize that this public service announcement sends a very important message to the nation, doesn't it also say something about the NFL's motives? Why did they feel the need to play this ad at this Superbowl? 

Additionally, this anti-domestic violence PSA is claimed to be a part of their new anti-domestic violence initiative. However, this ad was aired as part of the air-time that the NFL automatically receives to promote their organization: "The donation comes from NFL's own advertising time—time it gets during the Super Bowl no matter what—which means this is essentially the league taking a brief reprieve from directly promoting itself." 

The NFL has aired an extremely powerful and moving PSA that I truly hope will help Americans realize the severity of the domestic abuse problem. However, if we truly dig a little deeper, we see what this ad does for the NFL, and realize that there was probably an alternative motive for this video.