Business

Diversity Study: Super Bowl Ads Less Gender Offensive

Published

11 years ago

April 23, 2015

Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, left, and Denver Broncos head coach John Fox laugh as they pose behind the Vince Lombardi Trophy before speaking at a news conference Friday, Jan. 31, 2014, in New York. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

STEVE REED, AP Sports Writer

While Super Bowl XLIX commercials were more sensitive and less gender offensive than in past years, women and people of color remain vastly underrepresented among the creative directors who are producing those ads, according to a diversity study released Wednesday.

The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida released its annual report showing the advertising industry’s continuing disparity in hiring practices in terms of race and gender.

The study found that of the 42 Super Bowl ads in 2015 for which data was available, only three — or seven percent — featured exclusively a person of color as the lead creative director. By contrast, 86 percent featured a white creative director and seven percent featured both a white person and person of color.

In terms of gender, 81 percent of the creative directors were male, 13 percent of creative directors featured both a male and a female. Only seven percent were exclusively females.

Richard Lapchick, the primary author of this study and director of TIDES, said that the percentage of people of color and women in creating and producing the Super Bowl ads hasn’t changed much.

“It’s one of those industries where there has not been much movement over the years,” Lapchick said. “The NFL and the Super Bowl audience is very diverse, and it’s just not reflected in the people who are preparing and creating these ads.”

The study also pointed out that of 61 commercials, 19 had African-Americans in a lead role, a significant increase since when the study was first conducted in 2011.

Lapchick believes that the key figures of Madison Avenue advertising agencies should mirror the NFL’s efforts when it comes to the improved hiring practices of people of color and women in recent years.

The adoption of the Rooney Rule, which increases the pool of minority coaching candidates, has helped the NFL has received an overall A grade for its racial hiring practice in each of the last five years. The NFL earned a C- for its gender hiring practices in 2014, for an overall grade of B.

Lapchick said he was pleasantly surprised with the overall content of this year’s Super Bowl commercials compared to recent years.

In previous years, Super Bowl ads routinely used gratuitous sexual content, gender stereotypes and gender roles to sell a company’s product or service. However, he said the use of sex to sell and objectifying women was very limited in 2015.

“As our team watched the Super Bowl and watched the individual ads there was a large degree of surprise at the non-stereotypical ads, but also the positive images that were being portrayed,” Lapchick said.

Lapchick also believes advertising directors were more sensitive about gender violence following the Ray Rice domestic abuse case and, to a lesser degree, the Adrian Peterson child abuse case.

“I think that had a tremendous impact on the ads this year,” Lapchick said. “… I don’t have any doubt that factored into not only the toning down of the ads, but the fact they were actually sensitive, particularly to gender issues.”

Racial and gender data was only available for 42 of the 61 advertisements aired during the 2015 Super Bowl, compared to 58 out of 66 in 2011. Lapchick said this was due to advertisement agencies being unwilling to provide the names of their creative directors for the respective advertisements.

The study finds that 50 of the advertisements were produced by major advertising industries, compared to 48 in 2011. The remaining 11 were produced in-house by corporate marketing departments or through third parties, by contest winners or other non-professionals.

___

AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL

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Financial Wellness and Mental Health: Managing Money Stress in College 

While everyone’s financial situation is unique, several common sources of stress have the potential to strain your financial health. These include financial and economic uncertainty, existing debts, unexpected expenses, and mental or physical health changes. Financial stress may differ from situation to situation, but understanding the factors contributing to yours may help you begin to craft a plan for your unique circumstances.

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2 weeks ago

March 17, 2026

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Sponsored by JPMorganChase

As a college student, managing financial responsibilities can be stressful.

If you’ve found yourself staying up late thinking about your finances or just feeling anxious overall about your financial future, you’re not alone. In one survey, 78% of college students who reported financial stress had negative impacts on their mental health, and 59% considered dropping out. While finances can impact overall stress, taking steps to manage your finances can support your mental, emotional and physical well-being.

When it comes to money, the sources of stress may look different for each student, but identifying the underlying causes and setting goals accordingly may help you feel more confident about your financial future.

Consider these strategies to help improve your financial wellness and reduce stress.

Understand what causes financial stress

2. Determine your financial priorities

Start by reflecting on your financial priorities. For students this often includes paying for school or paying off student loans, studying abroad, saving for spring break, building an emergency fund, paying down credit card debt or buying a car. Name the milestones that are most important to you, and plan accordingly.

3. Create a plan and stick to it

While setting actionable goals starts you on the journey to better financial health, it’s essential to craft a plan to follow through. Identifying and committing to a savings plan may give you a greater sense of control over your finances, which may help reduce your stress. Creating and sticking to a budget allows you to better track where your money is going so you may spend less and save more.

4. Pay down debt

Many students have some form of debt and want to make progress toward reducing their debt obligations. One option is the debt avalanche method, which focuses on paying off your debt with the highest interest rate first, then moving on to the debt with the next-highest interest rate. Another is the debt snowball method, which builds momentum by paying off your smallest debt balance, and then working your way up to the largest amounts.

5. Build your financial resilience

Some financial stress may be inevitable, but building financial resilience may allow you to overcome obstacles more easily. The more you learn about managing your money, for instance, the more prepared you’ll feel if the unexpected happens. Growing your emergency savings also may increase resilience since you’ll be more financially prepared to cover unexpected expenses or pay your living expenses.

6. Seek help and support

Many colleges have resources to help students experiencing financial stress, like financial literacy courses or funds that provide some assistance for students in need. Talk to your admissions counselor or advisor about your concerns, and they can direct you to sources of support. Your school’s counseling center can also be a great resource for mental health assistance if you’re struggling with financial stress.

The bottom line

Financial stress can affect college students’ health and wellbeing, but it doesn’t have to derail your dreams. Setting smart financial goals and developing simple plans to achieve them may help ease your stress. Revisit and adjust your plan as needed to ensure it continues to work for you, and seek additional support on campus as needed to help keep you on track.

 JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC