In America, the Super Bowl is without a doubt the most popular sporting event that takes place every year. Millions of fans from every part of the country tune in to watch the big event, even if the team that they support during the regular season is not competing. To some, the Super Bowl may even be considered an unofficial holiday. 

Though there’s a lot of room for error when an event is so significant and is being viewed by millions of people. That is exactly why the commercial prank this year had every man in America shouting at the television and blaming people for changing the channel, leading to many fights or even breakups. When in reality, no one actually touched the remote.

Instead, the so-called commercial break was an advertisement for Tubi, a streaming service with over 20,000 movies and television shows. The featured commentators were discussing the game when all of a sudden the screen gave the impression that someone had taken the remote and attempted to open up the Tubi app, making this unlike your ordinary commercial.

For this exact reason, the commercial grabbed the attention of millions of Americans  – whether it created a positive or negative emotional response. 

Here is what students at Emerson Junior-Senior High School thought about the commercial: 

Nick Seretis – “I thought someone changed the channel! I was screaming put the game back on someone put it back on! Soon we figured out it was just a trick and it was funny at that point. Everyone was going crazy about the channel changing, but it was actually supposed to happen.”

Nataly Sergave –  “It was stupid in my opinion. It caused unwanted commotion when it was not needed.”

Rey Vazquez- “I had the remote right next to me and I grabbed it because I thought someone next to me had it. I was trying to fix the tv but nothing was happening then I realized it was just a trick ad got a good laugh out of it”

This commercial may have been a trick, but it was a well thought out and effective one. The confusion about the commercial was being talked about on all social media platforms, allowing Tubi to get the exact advertising it was looking for – even though it took a lot of angered, confused and irritated Americans in order to do so.