With one love

After facing backlash and criticism for the Halftime Show, Maroon 5 responds to the negativity.

Maroon 5
Memorable moment – Maroon 5 performs at the LIII Super Bowl Halftime Show in Atlanta, Georgia.

When Maroon 5 performed at the LIII Super Bowl Halftime Show, excitement and high expectations soon turned into major disappointment and backlash. From their ‘mediocre’ performance to Maroon 5 leader and vocalist Adam Levine’s taking his shirt off on stage, Maroon 5 were hit with countless criticisms and their performance was marked as one of the most controversial Super Bowl Halftime Show, along with Justin Timberlake’s when he accidentally pulled down co-performer Janet Jackson’s clothes, revealing her right breast at XXXVIII Super Bowl.

The brief appearance of SpongeBob SquarePants during the performance only aroused more complaints and criticism towards the band, since it was considered to be a disappointment for less than 30 seconds of the theme song, “Sweet Victory.” Despite the anticipated teaser, Maroon 5 failed to live up to the expectations of the past Super Bowl Halftime shows, only leaving bitterness behind.

After floods of negativity on the Internet, Maroon 5 responded to the reactions with a statement: “When we accepted the responsibility to perform at the SBHTS (Super Bowl Half Time Show), I took out my pen and just wrote,” Maroon 5 said. “Some of the words that came to me in that moment eventually made their way onto the incredible lanterns that flew high and low tonight. We thank the universe for this historic opportunity to play on the world’s biggest stage. We thank our fans for making our dreams possible. And we thank our critics for always pushing us do better.”

Maroon 5
Hitting the notes – Maroon 5 lead vocal Adam Levine sings one of the biggest hits of 2018, “Girls Like You.”

The group emphasized “One Love” and shared some of encouraging words with the world. Some of them were: Forgive, Laugh, Smile, Embrace, Remember, Inspire, Express, Unify, Dream, Persevere, Overcome, Love and Listen. Instead of making an aggressive stance or defending themselves, Maroon 5 decided to fight negativity with floods of positivity, warming many fans’ heart.

While LIII Super Bowl Halftime Show might not have lived up to the performances of Lady Gaga who jumped off of a roof or Katy Perry who arrived at the show with a lion, Maroon 5 showed the public that negativity can bring people together with the counter of positivity and words of encouragement.