Sign in Subscribe
Features

Bad Bunny’s “Benito Bowl” Enters the Meme Canon

The half-time show tribute to Boricua and Latine pride was rife with cultural and political symbolism that resonated with millions.

Rhea Nayyar

Rhea Nayyar

— 7 min read
Bad Bunny's iconic crowd dive during the Super Bowl half-time show (all screenshots Hyperallergic, via Instagram)

One week after receiving three Grammy awards for the 2025 album DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny made history last night when he delivered the Super Bowl half-time performance almost entirely in Spanish. The right-wing fury surrounding the “Benito Bowl,” a label inspired by Bad Bunny’s birth name Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, primed his Super Bowl performance to be heavily meme-able well ahead of its occurrence. But he knocked it out of the park (or scored a touchdown, or whatever) with countless references channeling the landscape, history, and culture of Puerto Rico that ultimately resonated with millions.

The 13-minute celebration of Boricua pride was rife with cultural and political symbolism, as well as multiple heartwarming and humorous moments that had everyone feeling a bit more in touch with their Latine side — regardless of what their 23AndMe results might indicate, as echoed in thousands of memes.

The Benito Bowl was an all-you-can-eat event. (via Threads)

The National Football League's (NFL) selection of Bad Bunny caused quite a stir last fall, eliciting uproar across the Trump administration due to the singer's longstanding anti-ICE commentary and, frankly, because of racism and xenophobia — even though the artist is a United States citizen. In protest of the 31-year-old singer, the conservative advocacy group Turning Point USA, co-founded by Charlie Kirk, also programmed its own “All American Halftime Show,” boasting a performance by none other than Kid Rock. While the jokes write themselves in this instance, netizens were quick to needle the far-right’s talent pool even further by pointing out that even the little boy in Bad Bunny’s performance has more Grammies than vocal Trump supporter Nicki Minaj …

Making a change.org petition to protect this child from Nicki Minaj and her entourage immediately. (via X)

... And in both infuriating the Trump administration and screwing over Patriots owner and billionaire businessman Robert Kraft, an unlikely alliance formed between those rooting for the Seattle Seahawks and those who just tuned in for Bad Bunny's half-time show.

Bad Bunny and "Leidy Gaga" (edit Rhea Nayyar/Hyperallergic) 

Throughout the show, Bad Bunny coursed through sugarcane fields in reference to Puerto Rico's colonial background. He also touched on the semi-regular power blackouts on the island by scaling a faulty electricity tower, and fell through the roof of “La Casita,” which has become a staple set in his performances and tours. Bad Bunny's set further blended Boricua and Nuyorican references, ranging from a coco frío (coconut water) stand and a piragua (shaved ice) cart to a makeshift city block referencing the La Marqueta strip in East Harlem, a major diasporic Caribbean and Latin American vending hub. Beloved cultural matriarch Toñita, who has owned and managed the Caribbean Social Club in Brooklyn for over half a century, also made a cameo appearance in a replica of the space's home-y bar, emphasizing the singer's appreciation of New York City's diasporic Puerto Rican presence.

Many props to the set designer(s)! (via X)

The set's deliberate design and Bad Bunny's effortless confidence struck a chord with the audience, including those who were neither proficient in Spanish nor of Caribbean or Latin American heritage. So much so that social media users of all sorts of backgrounds have expressed that they're all feeling a little Puerto Rican all of a sudden (or directly referencing Jennifer Lopez's “Mi gente Latino” blunder a la 2011 American Music Awards).

We are all feeling it. (via X)

The artist's verbal run-through of the nations and territories spanning South, Central, and North America and the Caribbean Islands also contributed to that feeling of cultural unity, with Canadians chiming in across the board with glee at falling into the Latine cultural lens for even a moment.

English: “Canadians after Bad Bunny named them:” (via X)
From Heated Rivalry to this ... (via X)

That unity has even extended to nations with longstanding sports rivalries ... For the time being, at least.

English: “Latin America watching Bad Bunny's show / Latin America when the World Cup kicks off” (via X)

In just 13 minutes, Bad Bunny also managed to include an actual wedding in his performance, complete with a reference to children sleeping on a row of chairs, as seen and experienced at countless family functions. As it turns out, the couple had invited Bad Bunny to their wedding ceremony, but he pulled an Uno Reverse card and said, "Just have it at my half-time show.” Whoever was supposed to be the Best Man might just have to hand that title over.

Especially after that Calvin Klein ad ... (via X)

The appearance of Lady Gaga, who performed a salsa-fied version of “Die With a Smile,” and Ricky Martin, who sang Bad Bunny's anti-colonial track “Lo que le pasó a Hawaii,” took the audience by surprise as well. Though Lady Gaga is proudly Italian, it looks like she and Bad Bunny have been vocal fans of each other for quite some time. Others have noted that her part as an entertainer at the couple's actual wedding, something typically associated with Latine performers, was an intentional role reversal. 

Regardless, the singer who brought us “Alejandro” (2010) and “Americano” (2011) has since been referred to as Estefania and Leidy Gaga after participating in the show last night.

This is a canon event. (via X)

And while Bad Bunny provided a plethora of historical and cultural references in his performance, the artbutmakeitsports Instagram account noted that his choreography evoked certain moments in art history.

Art about life, imitating other art about life ... (via Instagram)
Bad Bunny certainly gave us the gospel truth. (via Instagram)

The sugarcane plants have also been a hot topic online after we found out that there were actually people inside of them. It makes sense that the props could simply be walked on and walked off of the stage considering the time crunch for setting up, but the visuals of the plants scurrying across the football field were quite entertaining.

It appears that it was just as exciting to be a sugarcane plant as it was to watch them. Nevertheless, I'm sure we'll see plenty of these running around again by the time Gay Halloween rolls in this October.

Mark my words. And your calendars.

Sounds like a sweet deal after all, right? (via X)
To all the people who played a tree in their school play. (via X)
No wonder Boomers were so pressed about the half-time show this year. (via X)
Is it Halloween yet? (via Instagram)

Like Bad Bunny’s performance, some of the best memes are in Spanish — or Spanglish. One particularly deep cut is this remix of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's magnum opus “One Hundred Years of Solitude” (1967).

Fanfiction comes in many forms. (via Threads)

With lots to ruminate on, I encourage you to rewatch the half-time show a couple more times to keep peeling back the layers of pride and resistance nestled between art and humor. Even Trump couldn't help but take a glance despite vowing not to watch it, as you can see in his Truth Social tirade.

It all boils down to this: confidence is magnetic, no matter what.

Just in time for Valentine's Day! (via X)

But it probably helps to look as good as Bad Bunny does, too.

What else is there left to say? (via X)