Why So Many Spanish Language & Bilingual Ads During Superbowl LX?
Answer = Bad Bunny
This is an easy question to which you likely know the answer. But I’ll share my perspective.
No matter which city you live in (because each market has local ad spot insertions available in addition to national spots seen throughout the U.S.), if you watched the Super Bowl LX last night, you may have seen more Bilingual and Spanish-language national ad spots than usual. Two of note are Telemundo’s ad for the FIFA World Cup in which actor Owen Wilson was attempting to speak the language with the help of Colombian-American Actress Sofia Vergara, and e.l.f. Cosmetics’ ad featuring Melissa McCarthy framed in Telenovela style.
All media content presents a platform for advertisers to leverage to reach their intended audience with a message to like or buy their product. Without sports, entertainment, edutainment, manufacturers would just yell at people all day via billboards. But with the help of newspapers, radio, TV, and even now influencer content, they have platforms through which to reach potential consumers, like you and me.
Super Bowl LX featured a mega-star — Bad Bunny — who comes with the potential of bringing a Spanish-speaking audience with him.
In case you are still trying to understand WHY Bad Bunny had the potential to allure a large audience. Please indulge me as I share a fraction of his influencer via the below stats on Bad Bunny’s reflecting his audience demand.
- Globally, Bad Bunny has generated about 124 million equivalent album sales across streaming, downloads, and pure sales, placing him around top 50 all‑time among recording artists.
- His biggest album, “Un Verano Sin Ti” (2022), accounts for about 24.3 million equivalent album units on its own (which significant for a Spanish‑language release).
- In 2021, Bunny’s pure album sales (not including streaming) are at apprx 5.7 million albums sold worldwide, with about 5.0 million in the U.S.
- In 2022, Bad Bunny played 81 shows across two major tours (the “El Último Tour del Mundo” arena run and the “World’s Hottest Tour” stadium run) and grossed about $435 million dollars, setting a new all‑time annual touring record for a single artist at that point.
- Demand is extreme for Bad Bunny. In Mexico alone, more than 4.5 million people registered or attempted to buy Bunny’s concert tickets for his two Estadio Azteca shows, which had only about 120,000 seats available. Further more, his to tour is the first to sell out three Colombia stadiums in less than 24 hours, and he set the record for fastest-selling show in Costa Rica.
- For the global stadium run after Estadio Azteca, he had already sold more than 2.6 million tickets for 54 stadium shows in 18 countries, a level of stadium demand previously comparable only to acts like Taylor Swift, The Rolling Stones, Coldplay, and Michael Jackson.
So, since the Super Bowl attracts over 120MM viewers each year, with an estimated 120–130MM in 2026 (not released by Nielsen yet), it makes sense that advertisers would consider this platform to be one of the biggest ones to reach an audience.
Bad Bunny delivered a show fully reflective of the expansiveness of the Latin culture, featuring a multitude of Spanish country flags. And I have no doubt, that his fans who represent many of those countries, showed up and out for Benito. Them showing up, makes the investment of advertisers who were thoughtful enough to create culturally relevant ads for Spanish-speaking people, winners because they effectively reached their intended target audience.
Sources:
https://people.com/super-bowl-2026-bad-bunny-halftime-show-best-photos-11901854
Olivia is a C-Suite Marketing Exec, Author of 51 Brand Marketing Tips for Creators & Founder of Omerge Alliances & Freedom at The Mat. An NYU & Loyola Professor, she has led marketing at influential organizations such as Carol’s Daughter, VIBE, Live Nation, Ogilvy & more for 25+ years. A Native Memphian, now based in New Orleans, is a forever Harlemite (NYC) who travels extensively and blooms where she is planted.
