Ever since President Donald Trump signed the executive order that effectively banned immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States, several high profile executives from Silicon Valley have been voicing their opposition towards it. One of Trump's most aggressive corporate critics on his immigration ban is Airbnb, who took to the Superbowl to air out their grievances.
Superbowl LI was viewed by more than 110 million viewers, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times, so it only makes sense for Airbnb to have their ad shown during one of the most viewed sports spectacles in the world. In the said ad, the online accommodations leader showed a diverse group of individuals with some accompanying text that read: "We believe no matter who you are, where you're from, who you love or who you worship, we all belong. The world is more beautiful the more you accept."
While the commercial does deliver a pretty powerful message, one can't help, but to associate it with the president's controversial travel ban. The ad also aired just a mere nine days after Trump signed the executive order that prevented immigrants coming from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering America. The Airbnb Superbowl ad referred to the immigration ban only obliquely and did not violate any guidelines for Superbowl commercials.
Both the NFL and Fox, the network that broadcasted the Superbowl, maintain the rights to approve ads, and some advertisers were walking on thin ice trying to have commercials featuring immigrants approved, according to the New York Times. Before the start of the game, Coca Cola re-aired one of their old ads from 2014 called "America the Beautiful." The commercial shows a group of Americans of different religions and races singing the song in different languages. Some companies, however, were not so lucky. Lumber 84, a building company, had to change their ad which featured a Spanish speaking mother and daughter in front of a border wall.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
