Before they even aired, several of the Super Bowl LI ads created a vortex of turbulence and backlash. Five of the ads have been seen as either coincidentally or conspiratorially addressing social issues that divide the U.S. populace, especially in the wake of our last election. But most Super Bowl ads take many months of planning. They are such high-risk propositions that there may be dozens of different executions (one colleague reports that a client made 30 versions of an ad) that are tested before locking in a best bet. Some may not test well, so the company may revert to a previous winner. But only in rare cases (see below) are the ads made in a timely fashion to capture a mood or play off a current event.