Conservative group Turning Point USA is streaming an alternative “All-American” halftime show in protest of Bad Bunny’s performance. The event will feature artists such as Kid Rock, Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice, and Gabby Barrett, and is being positioned as a “patriotic alternative” to the NFL's official choice. The move comes after Trump himself declined to attend, describing his position as “I'm anti-them,” the president says. “I think it's a terrible choice. All it does is sow hatred. Terrible.” The Super Bowl offers a colossal stage as this weekend’s championship game in Santa Clara is expected to be watched by more than 120 million alone. Bad Bunny, too, is breaking records, with the 31-year-old, who has been Spotify’s most-streamed artist in four of the past six years, will be the first solo male Latin artist to perform the halftime show. He is expected to be the first artist to perform the set entirely in Spanish. The musician is no stranger to tackling MAGA elites head-on – avoiding the US on his current world tour because of concerns that ICE would conduct raids on his fans at his concerts. He joked that “everyone [was] happy” about his selection for the show in September 2025, and at the Grammy’s on Sunday, made explicit anti-ICE statements saying, “We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens, we are humans and we are Americans.”

Bad Bunny is not alone in his critique of ICE. Other celebrities joined in at the Grammy’s, with about six in 10 Americans disapproving of ICE’s actions throughout the country. Many are saying it has gone “too far” or been “too tough.” Support for the idea of abolishing ICE has also doubled since 2018, and recent events in Minnesota have proven the capacity of grassroots organization against MAGA forces. As causes become more and more disparate, brands must be prepared to choose authenticity over aesthetics and take genuine stances that defy the status quo. As Americans take risks in their everyday lives for what they believe in, brands must do the same. Lush's temporary closure of all UK stores and factories in September 2025 to protest the Gaza crisis, costing an estimated £300,000 in lost sales, signals a pivot where commercial spaces can and should be utilized as platforms for activism.