FILE PHOTO: Feb 5, 2026; San Francisco, CA, USA; A NFL shield logo at the NFL Honors Red Carpet before Super Bowl LX at Palace of Fine Arts. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images/File Photo
A Republican strategist dismissed Republican efforts to politicize Sunday’s Super Bowl as a waste of money, ripping a $3 million ad as "a gimmick."
The moment unfolded on Friday on CNN’s “The Lead” when host Jake Tapper highlighted a $3 million Super Bowl ad buy from Michigan GOP gubernatorial candidate Perry Johnson. The ad urges viewers to skip the halftime show because it features international superstar Bad Bunny as the performer.
“I don't think it's money well spent,” Lanza, a former senior advisor to President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign, said. “You know how hard resources should be spent on political campaigns. That's a gimmick.”
Lanza argued the strategy may generate attention but won’t deliver real value.
“He'll get a lot of support. I don't think he'll be able to make the money back,” he said. “But at the end of the day, people just want to watch football, and they want to be entertained. Whether it's Bad Bunny.”
The GOP strategist pushed back on the effort to turn the halftime show into a culture war.
“I just want politics out of my football,” Lanza said Friday. “I just want to enjoy football. I want to enjoy the halftime show.”
Lanza said during the interview that “he’ll be watching Bad Bunny” when the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots square off for Super Bowl LX.