During Sunday night's Super Bowl broadcast, much of America was scrambling for the TV remote as a Tubi ad tricked us into thinking someone was switching our beloved game to Mr. and Mrs. Smith on the Tubi streaming app.
The ad had viewers thinking the commercial break was over as the screen showed Fox Sports announcers Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen commenting on the game.
But then, out of nowhere, applications showed up at the bottom and then Tubi—followed by the Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie flick—was selected.
They got us good.
\u201cTubi commercial had us all looking for the remote \ud83d\ude02 #SuperBowl \nhttps://t.co/7rxfEKGoLV\u201d— The Game Day NFL (@The Game Day NFL) 1676257563
After realizing it was just a commercial, most of the mass hysteria and panic settled and viewers then admitted they'd been had.
Sadly, some, didn't find humor in the prank ad.
In fact, some reverted to anger and violence when they thought the championship game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles had been interrupted.
One woman with such experience posted on Reddit that she broke up with her boyfriend over his reaction to the commercial.
In her post, she explained that he believed she was changing the app and began yelling at her even though she tried to tell him it was just a commercial.
She shared he got so upset, he ended up punching a hole through the wall in their living room.
"[He] began screaming at me violently, calling me things that I don't even want to write down."
"Even as I told him it was a commercial he ignored me and kept blowing up at me and punched a hole in our living room wall."
\u201cWhenever people wonder how women end up/stay in abusive relationships, look at how our culture constantly sympathizes with men & pushes women to ignore boundaries & abuse to stay. Even women's own friends & family.\n\nReminder: DV rates increase during sporting events.\u201d— The Road Jess Travelled (@The Road Jess Travelled) 1676408559
The poster shared after realizing his mistake her boyfriend "awkwardly apologized," but she had already witnessed something she didn't want to be a part of.
"He eventually realized what actually happened and awkwardly apologized but I was so disgusted to his reaction over a 15 second commercial."
"I feel like if you can't keep your anger in check and get that violent over something so small I don't want to be around for it."
She shared while she's seen him get angry before, this particular reaction caught her off guard and made her feel incredibly unsafe.
She revealed her own parents think she's overreacting because "everyone gets riled up" for the Super Bowl.
Sadly, anger during sporting events has been tolerated for some time. Many—as in the case of the mentioned boyfriend—get a pass from others because stakes were high and alcohol was consumed.
Several on Twitter shared their thoughts on the Redditor's experience.
\u201c@JessPected Truly absurd how our culture uses sports to justify all kinds of violent, unhinged behavior by men\u201d— The Road Jess Travelled (@The Road Jess Travelled) 1676408559
\u201cIn a society that refuses to label anger as an emotion in men/boys, normalizes their aggression, & excuses their violence, this is absolutely a cultural issue. When girls are told they're too sensitive, it's because he likes you, & boys will be boys, it is absolutely systemic.\u201d— The Road Jess Travelled (@The Road Jess Travelled) 1676408559
\u201c@Cooperstreaming Yup, it's the sports, it's the booze, it's the stressful job. Yet they never seem to "lose control" on their bosses or a man that could affect their safety/livelihood.\u201d— The Road Jess Travelled (@The Road Jess Travelled) 1676408559
\u201c@JessPected @TamTamsWorld It's really troubling how much of these reddit posts that make it to Twitter boil down to [my partner was abusive but both his family and mine tell me I'm overreacting]\u201d— The Road Jess Travelled (@The Road Jess Travelled) 1676408559
\u201c@JessPected It's normal to be angry, it's not normal to be violent and abusive.\n\n2 months in means they are still at the honeymoon stage and he is on his very best behavior.\nNo matter what her parents say, she needs to trust her instincts and run.\u201d— The Road Jess Travelled (@The Road Jess Travelled) 1676408559
\u201c@JessPected @JoannaisWriting I used to be this guy.\n\nAs someone who has broken bones in his hand, who has literal, massive scars on his arm from punching through a plate glass window, she absolutely, unquestionably did the right thing.\u201d— The Road Jess Travelled (@The Road Jess Travelled) 1676408559
\u201c@JessPected If he's this violent over what he thought was a channel change now, when she can easily leave him, how much worse would he be when both their names are in a mortgage and children in the mix? I hope she holds firm and her parents get a damn clue.\u201d— The Road Jess Travelled (@The Road Jess Travelled) 1676408559
\u201c@JessPected @blktinabelcher Thanks for this. It's crucial that women listen to their gut on this. If it happened before it will happen again. \nI don't know if it's still true but Superbowl Sunday has had the highest incidents of domestic violence annually.\u201d— The Road Jess Travelled (@The Road Jess Travelled) 1676408559
\u201c@JessPected I rapidly lost interest in any sort of televised sport because of how my dad acts when they're on the TV.\n\nIt's stupid that so many people see these reactions as normal, I'd only ever shout that much if I'd won the Lottery and saw all of my numbers on the TV.\u201d— The Road Jess Travelled (@The Road Jess Travelled) 1676408559
The Redditor deleted the post, but it definitely ignited a much-needed conversation about the correlation of domestic violence and sporting events.
A creator on TikTok shared some staggering statistics in a video about the Tubi commercial and sports-related violence.
@aurora...star Visit TikTok to discover videos!
In the video, @aurora...star shared:
"Since Sunday, I've heard multiple stories of fathers screaming at their children saying it's their fault that the channel was changed, bartenders getting drinks thrown at their face and boyfriends punching holes in their wall, just to name a few."
"Several studies have shown that there is a direct correlation between sporting events and an increase in domestic violence reports."
@aurora...star then shared some eye-opening numbers.
"For example, in England, when their national team loses, there is a 38% increase, and when they win, there's a 26% increase."
"A study conducted in Alberta Canada showed that the domestic violence hotline had a 15% increase in calls during major sporting events."
"And in the U.S., looking at 900 NFL games over 11 years, there was a 10% increase in cities where their local team lost."
"It's also very important to know that nearly half of all domestic violence goes unreported."
While the Tubi commercial was meant to be humorous, it seems the 15 second prank was devastating and frightening for many.
