When culture becomes a platform: The strategic impact of Bad Bunny's Super Bowl performance

On 8 February 2026, a historic event took place at Levi's Stadium. For the first time in sixty years of the big game, a Super Bowl half-time show was performed almost entirely in Spanish. And what a show it was.

Despite invective from President Trump and some Republican politicians, Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny—Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio—delivered a performance peppered with cultural and political references to the reality of his native island and, more broadly, to Latin American culture. In doing so, he used an evening of mass entertainment for the purposes of resistance. Not through a direct or partisan speech, but by staging a narrative. A political act in itself, whose impact was reinforced by the richness and coherence of the symbols incorporated into the show.

Anti-colonialism: the past brought to life

The thirteen-minute episode opens with a powerful historical symbol: sugar cane.

In Puerto Rico, the plant is closely linked to the colonisation of the island. Its cultivation was imposed under Spanish rule in the 16th century, then consolidated under American administration after 1898. The sugar economy was built around the exploitation of land and local labour, while the wealth generated largely benefited outside interests.

On the Super Bowl stage, sugar cane is not decorative. It acts as a visual reminder. It serves as a reminder that Puerto Rico's economic and political history cannot be separated from the colonial dynamics that shaped its development. The past is not told. It is shown.

Added to this memory is another symbol laden with meaning: the presence of the Puerto Rican flag in its pale blue version. This variation, historically associated with certain independence movements, is not insignificant. Without any slogan or explicit claim, it introduces a direct reference to the debates on the island's self-determination into the American media space.

Criticism of institutional neglect: Apagones in broad daylight

Next, we see Benito climbing a fake electricity pole while singing El Apagón, one of his most political songs to date, whose title can be translated as "Blackout".

The recurring power cuts that plague Puerto Rico, particularly since Hurricane Maria in 2017, are now part of everyday life. These outages, and the fragility of the power grid they reveal, have become symbolic of a wider institutional neglect.

Around the electricity poles, jíbaros—emblematic rural figures of the island—are busy at work. Their presence evokes traditional Puerto Rican identity and the collective effort needed to repair failing infrastructure.

Puerto Rico remains an unincorporated American territory. Although its residents are American citizens, the island does not have statehood and does not have full representation in Congress. Apagones are now the most visible expression of this institutional reality.

Latin American representation: refusing to be erased

At a time when debates on immigration and national identity are polarising American society, the references to everyday life in Puerto Rico throughout the show highlight the richness and resilience of a culture that some would prefer to marginalise.

Through the winding turns of a barrio recreated on stage, we encounter characters who tell the story of an entire community. The representation is intended to be truthful—neither folklorised nor stereotypical.

The script culminates on the balcony of a casita, a small traditional house associated with family roots and transmission. Surrounded by Latin American stars, the artist inscribes his success in a collective continuity.

It is also impossible to overlook the touching exchange between Bad Bunny and the young boy dressed in a way that recalls his own childhood. By handing him the Grammy he won the week before, Benito establishes a symbolic bridge between past and present. Success does not erase one's roots—it carries them forward.

Message of love and redfining America

The show concludes under a jumbotron proclaiming that only love conquers hate. Surrounded by the flags of the nations of the Americas, Bad Bunny shouts, "God bless America."

Placed in this visual context, the phrase broadens the notion of America beyond the United States alone and highlights its pluralistic dimension.

Bad Bunny's performance was neither a manifesto nor a partisan speech. Yet by mobilising historical symbols and asserting a Latin American identity at the heart of the country's biggest media event, the artist transformed a moment of entertainment into a statement.

The message could not be clearer: despite inequalities and erasure, culture, and identity persist.

From cultural platform to strategic positioning

Beyond artistic performance, this show illustrates a strategic reality that is too often underestimated: culture is now one of the most powerful levers of influence and brand differentiation.

When an artist mobilises symbols, collective memory and identity to transform a popular platform into a structured narrative, they are not just entertaining—they are positioning. For organisations, the challenge is similar. Understanding cultural tensions, anticipating social conversations and embedding a brand in a coherent narrative requires a keen understanding of political, identity and media dynamics.

It is precisely at this intersection between culture, strategy and communication that the contemporary relevance of brands is played out. Companies that master this symbolic language will not be content with simply being visible: they will become meaningful.

Culture has become an essential strategic lever. To position your brand accurately and impactfully, contact our team.