Tennis star and vegan goddess Serena Williams is featured in a powerful Super Bowl ad on behalf of dating and friendship app Bumble. Marking Bumble’s debut commercial during the Big Game, it’s also the first-ever Super Bowl ad that was made by a female team.
The 30-second-spot, titled “The Ball is in Her Court,” shows Williams as a young girl waiting on the sidelines of a tennis court. She eventually makes the decision to take control of the situation, picking up a tennis ball and taking part in the game.
“The world tells you to wait; that waiting is polite. But if I waited to be invited in, I never would have stood out,” Williams narrates in the commercial. “So make the first move. In work, in love, in life. And don’t wait to be given power. Because here’s what they won’t tell you: we already have it.”
The ad concludes with the message: “Women, the ball is in your court.”
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The message – important on a number of levels – aligns with Bumble’s policy for its dating app whereby in heterosexual matches, only women can contact men first. The rule is intended to “reinvent the antiquated rules of dating,” Bumble writes on its website.
Bumble believes the “extremely significant” policy is empowering, by making it necessary – “and therefore acceptable” – for women to make the first move. It’s also led to “incomparably low reports of harrassment and abuse.”
“Things change when women are in control,” the brand states.
Williams is the co-creative director of the ad and the crew behind the commercial was predominantly female. Musician Rita Ora’s track “Soul Survivor” is featured in the advert, which will air during the first quarter of the game.
Speaking about the project, Williams said, “At such a pivotal time for women across the globe, this commercial seeks to inspire all of us to seize opportunity wherever it presents itself.”
She continued, “I want women to feel empowered to find their voice and use the power within to create change, to lift each other up, and to never let the world tell us we can’t–because we can, and we will.”
Late last year, the plant-powered athlete launched her own vegan clothing line, made especially for the ladies “who do it all.”
Image Credit: Bumble
