‘Best marketing I’ve seen, even fooled the military’: Social media users poke fun at U2 after Super Bowl ad for Vegas residency showed ‘unidentified object over the skies’… following US shooting three down in three days
- The band promoted their Las Vegas residency with a Super Bowl commercial
- The promo featured large spheres flying across the sky
- The ad made people wonder if they were related to the Chinese spy balloons
U2 had people wondering if they’d been had Sunday night after a Super Bowl advert promoting their Las Vegas residency showed giant spheres in space that resembled the Chinese spy balloon.
The world-famous Irish rock band will begin a run of dates at the newly opened MSG Sphere for an immersive show later this year.
It was promoted with a vague, confusing 15-second ad during Super Bowl LVII that didn’t show the band, except for a brief silhouette.
The extended trailer shows reports of an ‘unidentified flying object’ with a large silver sphere floating through the air.
Social media reaction wondered if the legendary rockers had been behind the Chinese spy balloons that have been shot down by American and Canadian forces over the past week.
It’s not quite ‘bullet the blue sky’ but U2 had people wondering if they’d been had Sunday night after a Super Bowl ad promoting their Las Vegas residency showed giant spheres in space
U2 confirm upcoming Las Vegas residency in Super Bowl trailer
One writer bluntly suggested: ‘The US government has been shooting down ads for a U2 concert.’
An extended trailer for the concert was posted online, but most users were reacting to what they’d seen on the Super Bowl broadcast on Fox.
Another referenced a notorious piece of the band’s past, in which they put a copy of their album Songs of Innocence onto every iPhone in the world.
‘If the balloons have just been U2 promo this entire time they’ve somehow managed to outdo themselves since that time they forced their album upon us with an automatic airdrop.’
Another posted a fake news update: ‘The U2 Baby Sphere has been downed by an American fighter jet.’
A fan responded to the band, saying: ‘Okay, that’s the best marketing I’ve ever seen, even fooled the military.’
One person praised the band’s marketing acumen: ‘If U2 actually created a viral marketing campaign that actually resulted in military action in United States airspace, it’s the greatest thing that’s ever happened.’
U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at The Sphere will kick off in the autumn of 2023, celebrating 30 years of the seminal album that featured hits like ‘One’ and ‘Mysterious Ways.’
The announcement comes just ahead of the band’s Songs of Surrender – a collection of 40 songs from U2’s back catalogue, re-recorded and reimagined – which is due to be released on Friday.
The residency will be going ahead without drummer Larry Mullen Jr., who is due to undergo surgery and subsequent rehabilitation.
‘It’s going to take all we’ve got to approach the Sphere without our bandmate in the drum seat, but Larry has joined us in welcoming Bram van den Berg, who is a force in his own right,’ U2 said in a statement, shared with US media.
In a rare moment of sweeping bipartisanship, the House voted 419-0 on Thursday to condemn China for flying a spy balloon over the United States.
The balloon was able to drift over the country for three days before it was shot down on the east coast.
The measure was introduced by House Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul of Texas.
U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at The Sphere will kick off in the autumn of 2023, celebrating 30 years of the seminal album that featured hits like ‘One’ and ‘Mysterious Ways’
The residency will be going ahead without drummer Larry Mullen Jr., who is due to undergo surgery and subsequent rehabilitation
It required two-thirds support to pass and was able to earn every single Democratic and Republican vote in a remarkable show of bipartisanship.
Republicans are also highly critical of the handling of the spy balloon by President Joe Biden’s administration, claiming Americans should have been alerted of the balloon sooner and that it should have been immediately shot down.
GOP leaders have considered also introducing a resolution to condemn Biden for how he handled the spy balloon entering U.S. air space.
China has maintained its stance that the vessel was a weather balloon that went astray, and was not a ‘spy balloon,’ like alleged.
However, antennas and solar panels were found among the recovered debris of the balloon after it was shot down over the Atlantic Ocean last week, a US official said on Thursday.
The House voted 419-0 in rare show of bipartisanship to condemn China for its spy balloon – shown here after it was shot down by the U.S. military over the ocean near Surfside Beach, South Carolina
Debris from the balloon was recovered after it was shot down into the ocean off the east coast of South Carolina. Among debris was antennas and solar panels, according to U.S. officials
A State Department update shows American intelligence has uncovered Beijing has a vast surveillance network spanning 40 countries.
The balloons, it is now revealed by a senior State official, are capable of ‘conducting signals intelligence collection operations,’ which have amounted to a violation of American sovereignty.
U.S. intelligence has linked the programs directly to China’s principle military force – the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
So far, the only Republican to break with the rank-and-file on the matter is Senator Mitt Romney, who told CNN that he believes Biden made the right decision to wait on informing the public.
‘I believe that the administration, the president, our military and intelligence agencies, acted skillfully and with care,’ Romney said. ‘At the same time, their capabilities are extraordinarily impressive.’
He made the comments when leaving a classified briefing on China.
Republicans on Capitol Hill are considering bringing a resolution that would condemn Biden for his handling of the Chinese spy balloon fiasco.
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