Sorry, but I don't need a car company to tell me I'm awesome.

Ah, the Super Bowl. America's favorite time to break out the queso and bean dip and sit on the couch and the only time we pay attention to commercials. How can you not?? They get so good!

For some reason, and I will literally never understand why, I have an extremely good memory with brands and jingles and commercials. For some reason it runs in my family (my cousin has the same gift). Whether this is really a super power or not, I can easily remember most of the commercials from this past Super Bowl, including the Pokemon commercial, Colgate commercial, and who can forget the #puppymonkeybaby commercial for Mountain Dew. 

However, out of all of these, the one that made the most impact on me was one for a car company, Mini Cooper, which you can see here:

This made such a huge impact on me and actually the way I view commercials because what Serena was preaching had absolutely nothing to do with Mini Coopers. Nothing. How??

The video starts off with Serena explaining what labels she has been called and then goes on to explain how "you need to define yourself" "motivate yourself to be the best that you can be." I totally agree with you girl, you do you, you go empower women and emphasize how we all need to be ourselves. I have absolutely nothing wrong with that. My problem is, however, why they are using this speech for a car. Why does it take a car company and football to make this message conveyed and heard?

As a girl, I was super into this commercial and like, "Yeah, Serena, you rock, you tell the haters." But the minute she says, "Mini is a car brand..." I can't help but just roll my eyes. It infuriates me that it has to take a bunch of men rolling around and punching each other trying to get a ball just so a women can preach and say what is needed to be heard: Empower yourself. You are you. Define yourself. I appreciate that Mini Cooper is even expressing these words, but it shouldn't take the Super Bowl for them to make this type of commercial. 

Ok, now let's get some appeals in here. This commercial screams need for autonomy which is good, especially that an African American woman (minority) is expressing it, explaining being yourself is all good! Need to achieve is also prominent in this commercial-- Serena literally says "just go out there and do nothing less than win." 

I am glad that I was finally able to express my anger (and also gratitude???) for this commercial because I think that it was one of those that kind of got unnoticed. Yay for individuality!!