Super Bowl: The best commercials celebrating women and championing gender equality

'I’ve never been a fan of assumptions'

From showing women in their underwear to seductively eating burgers, Super Bowl adverts have long had a history of often sexualising, overlooking, and even ignoring women’s existence.

At last year’s game, only 34 per cent of ads featured women playing a significant role, according to data from research firm ABX. Meanwhile, men featured prominently in 72 per cent of ads.

But on Sunday night, several brands took the opportunity to champion women during the commercial breaks, shedding light on the importance of gender equality both on and off the sports field.

With appearances from the likes of Serena Williams and Christina Applegate, to Carrie Bradshaw Sarah Michelle Gellar, a large number of adverts this year contain messages about female empowerment and gender equality following the rise of the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements in recent years.

Ad Age magazine estimates that there are double the number of female celebrities in adverts in the 2019 Super Bowl adverts compared to last year's.

With that in mind, here is a list of our favourite 2019 Super Bowl adverts putting women front and centre.

Serena Williams, Bumble

Serena Williams shared an empowering feminist message as she stars in a new Super Bowl advert for the dating app Bumble.

In a voiceover, the 23-time Grand Slam title winner can be heard telling viewers: “The world tells you to wait; that waiting is polite and that good things will just come."

“But If I had waiting to be invited in...I never would have stood out."

The video has been praised on social media by fans thanking the tennis champion for sharing such an inspiring and empowering message to girls and women.

One fan commented: “I have watched this too many times but can’t stop.”

“You’re so inspiring,” added another.

Toni Harris, Toyota

The East Los Angeles College Huskies athlete is the star of Toyota’s new Super Bowl advert.

The 22-year-old, who is set to become one of the first women in history to play college football, flips a tire and bench presses in the advert, showing viewers what it is like to work in a male-dominated sport.

As Harris shows off her athletic prowess in the clip, sportscaster Jim Nantz says in a voiceover: “They said she was too small, they said she was too slow, too weak. They said she’d never get to the next level, never inspire a new generation, never get a football scholarship.”

At the end of the commercial, Harris looks to camera and says: “But I’ve never been a fan of assumptions.”

“Most inspirational commercial was from Toyota...Meet Toni Harris ...Forget what they say,” wrote one Twitter fan about the advert.

“The Toyota commercial was a great example of pathos as it stirred up emotions of empowerment and confidence showing how Toni Harris never gave up. The background music even aroused a sense of motivation,” tweeted another.

Zoe Kravitz, Michelob

The 30-year-old actress stars in Michelob’s 2019 Super Bowl advert which was made by a predominantly female team.

Speaking of the commercial, brewing company Anheuser-Busch's vice president of marketing Azania Andrews told Advertising Age: "First and foremost, as a woman in marketing, a woman in beer, with all the conversations around diversity, I feel that I want to use my power for good and I feel a responsibility to try to create equity in the industry by creating opportunities for women."

In the clip, Kravitz whispers into a microphone: “Let’s all experience something together.”

The advert is seemingly inspired by ASMR - Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response Explained – which is an experience characterised by a tingling, often pleasurable sensation on the skin that comes about as a result of sounds or visuals that appease the brain.

Tapping her nails gently on the glass beer bottle and opening it, the star adds: “This place so pure you can feel it. This beer so pure you can taste it.”