U2's Super Bowl Ad Sparks Lots of Jokes Due to Spy Balloon Incident

By Michael Hein

Acclaimed rock band U2 took out a Super Bowl ad to promote their upcoming Las Vegas residency, but the commercial's UFO motif came at unfortunate timing. The 15-second ad shows a reflective sphere of some kind floating over the U.S., then shows the band walking to meet it. Presumably when it was filmed the band did not know that UFOs and spy balloons would be the top story of the weekend.

The U.S. has been embroiled in an international news story about "spy balloons" and mysterious aerospace activity for over a week now, and perhaps longer according to the government of China. On Monday, Reuters reported that the Chinese government is now accusing the U.S. of flying high-altitude balloons over its airspace without permission more than 10 times since January of 2022. This accusation comes after a Chinese balloon was shot down over South Carolina on Feb. 4, and at least three more mysterious objects have been shot down since.

With this story dominating the headlines, it's no surprise that the response to U2's Super Bowl ad was a little edgy. Many viewers wondered if U2 had somehow prepared this commercial since the balloon story broke, or if it was just a coincidence. If so, they argued about whether it was fortuitous for the band or not.

The U.S. and China continue to exchange accusations with no conclusive explanations for all these unmanned flying objects. Here's a look at how fans responded to U2's promotion on Sunday night.

Dread

Some viewers knew a moment of dread as they wondered whether all of these weather balloon stories were just "viral marketing" for U2's new concert residency. To be clear, that does not seem to be the case.

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Intent

Fans debated whether U2 had launched this campaign intentionally to capitalize on this international crisis.

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Songs of Innocence

Some fans joked that perhaps the "balloons" were another viral marketing tactic similar to the release of U2's 2014 album Songs of Innocence. It was automatically added to all iTunes accounts at no cost, whether listeners wanted it or not.

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Engaged

Fans joked that the next headline would find the sphere from U2's ad being engaged by military fighter pilots.

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Timely

Some viewers noted that this ad was timely in more ways than one, as it referenced a catastrophic earthquake, not unlike the one that ravaged Turkey and Syria on Feb. 6.

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Implications

Many fans imagined how the world would react if all the recent UFOs had turned out to be part of a U2 ad campaign after militaries around the world had begun shooting them down.

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Creative Team

Finally, some fans put themselves in the shoes of U2 and their market team, wondering if they felt lucky to have released their ad at this time or not.

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