Just before Lady Gaga performed during halftime at Super Bowl LI in Houston on Sunday night, an advertisement aired. A very politically charged advertisement.
Even given the number of advertisements that seem to have subliminal or outright political messages this year, this advertisement stuck out. In fact, the original version was deemed too political by Fox, the network airing the Super Bowl, who forced the company behind it, 84 Lumber, to edit it.
In the 90-second ad, a young Latina girl and her mother travel across the country, seemingly trying to enter the United States. The ad depicts the hardships and the difficulties the mother and daughter face in their travels, and ends ambiguously, with viewers being urged to “see the conclusion at Journey84.com.”
However, immediately after the ad aired Sunday, Journey84.com was inaccessible. The company seemed to acknowledge the problem on Twitter, but claimed the problem was resolved at 8:23 p.m. However, social media reports indicate the website was still unavailable for some time.