One of the most coveted pieces of Super Bowl merch this year wonโt be sold in stores, and the NFL probably doesnโt want to see it in the stands.
Itโs a rally towel with a cute, punting bunny graphic from acclaimed L.A. illustrator Lalo Alcaraz on one side, honoring this yearโs halftime show performer Bad Bunny. But thereโs an unambiguous message on the other side โ โICE OUT.โ
Before the game, activists clandestinely distributed 15,000 of them to fans entering Leviโs Stadium for the Super Bowl, seeding grassroots support toward a performer who spoke up for Latinos and immigrants at the Grammy Awards last week.
Though the NFL prefers the game โ and its halftime show โ not become a referendum on the ICE raids that have brutalized American cities over the last year, the group behind the effort hopes the signs are inescapable in the crowd.
โIโm a big โJoy is resistanceโ person,โ said Shasti Conrad, a leader of the group Contra-ICE and a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee. โToday is a celebration of American sports, and there are opportunities to really be heard here. Itโs about drawing attention to show that there is massive support to challenge Trump and the Department of Homeland Security. Any opportunity to push back is important.โ
Such pushback was enough to keep President Trump from attending the game in person โ โIโm anti-them,โ Trump said earlier, about performers Bad Bunny and Green Day. โI think itโs a terrible choice. All it does is sow hatred. Terrible.โ
While a competing halftime show from Kid Rock for Turning Point USA will try to rally the MAGA faithful, a pre-game set from Green Day needled ICE agents: โWherever you are: quit that sโ job you have,โ Green Dayโs Billie Joe Armstrong said. โCome on this side of the line.โ
The NFL keeps tight reins on messaging from its halftime show performers, but this yearโs selection of Bad Bunny (a choice announced late last year) carries unusual salience for the battle over raids by federal agents on immigrant communities, which have led to the deaths of two protesters and many more detainees in custody.
On his way to winning the Grammy for album last week, the Puerto Rican megastar was emphatic: โWeโre not savage, weโre not animals, weโre not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans,โ he said, castigating ICE. โThe hate gets more powerful with more hate. The only thing thatโs more powerful than hate is love โฆ So please we need to be different. If we fight, we have to do it with love. We donโt hate them. We love our people. We love our family and thereโs a way to do it with love.โ
This new bit of culture-jamming protest will continue that sentiment with art from Alcaraz, a famed SoCal cartoonist who worked on the animated series โBordertown.โ Bad Bunny fans will recognize the Puerto Rican pava straw hat in the graphic, along with some unsubtle anti-ICE imagery.
โArt has always been a way to confront hate wherever it appears. When injustice becomes part of everyday life, artists have a responsibility to make it visible,โ Alcaraz said in a statement to The Times. โIn a public space and cultural moment the whole country is watching, images, color, and movement become a way to express love and push back against hate in plain sight.โ
Conrad says Bad Bunnyโs been loud about how vital immigrants are to the country, that Latinos should be celebrated, that Puerto Rico is a part of our country that should be celebrated. โI think heโll use this platform to make sure itโs clear heโs on the right side of history.โ
Early in the day Sunday, around 50 activists with Contra-Ice set up along heavily-trafficked areas to pass the towels out to incoming Patriots and Seahawks fans in Santa Clara. Itโs โnot the same as the people putting their bodies on the line in Minneapolis,โ Conrad said, but itโs likely to be extremely visible during the broadcast. โI hope it gives cover to people so they feel like they can participate in ways big and small.โ
Several athletes like figure skater Alysa Liu and skier Jessie Diggins have expressed similar sentiments during the Winter Olympics, and the Grammys were rife with artists speaking out against ICE overreach onstage. While Bad Bunnyโs performance is likely to be more subtle and celebratory, having the worldโs biggest Latin artist play at the most quintessentially American cultural event is a statement in itself.
โWith so many cameras and eyes on the stadium, itโs going be hard to miss,โ Conrad said. โThe vast majority of Americans see ICEโs actions as a massive overreach. Theyโre terrorizing communities, and even some Trump voters have buyerโs remorse seeing images of a 5-year-old kidnapped and detained. That doesnโt feel American, and folks are saying โenough.โโ