Super Bowl Commercial Causes Spike in Domestic Violence

Julissa Duran, Staff Reporter

What started as a small prank turned into a violent incident across many homes in the US. When Tubi, a free streaming service supported by ads, made a commercial that was supposed to make viewers believe the channel had been switched, many viewers took matters into their own hands. 

On February 12, the NFL held its 57th annual Super Bowl. Since then, many people have been posting about how their friends and family reacted to the Tubi commercial. Videos surged online following the events capturing the reactions of football fans nationwide. While most of them consist of families screaming at the tv screen and trying to find the remote, a few showed fans going further yelling intensely at friends, family, and even strangers in bars. There are even some who broke into violent outbursts. 

 One particular post that got the discussion moving came from a Reddit user who said that she contemplated breaking up with her boyfriend after a violent outburst he had in the commercial. 

“(he) began screaming at me violently, calling me things that I don’t ever want to write down,” she wrote on the OffMyChest Forum on Reddit, and elaborated more on the events stating that he then punched a hole in the wall before later realizing that it was commercial. 

Since then many people have begun sharing their own stories, and information on the subject. Later on Tik Tok a user that goes under chellyreed1345 posted that while working the entire bar started yelling at her as soon as the commercial came on. 

Studies done in the U.K have found that during sports competitions, specifically football (soccer), domestic violence cases reported a surge, and in 2018 the LAPD reported 8% more domestic violence cases during Super Bowl Sunday than any other Sunday in the year.