Bad Bunny Wore His Truth on the World's Biggest Stage
His brand partner adidas stayed silent.
This is part three of “The Courage Gap,” a three-part series on brands, leadership, and what it means to stand for something when it actually costs you something.
Before I dive into the final part of this series, I want to thank everyone who reached out to me, especially the handful of you at Nike, with encouraging words. I can’t express how much it means. The scariest part of making this writing thing my full-time work is taking on topics that I can see result in people unsubscribing. I’ve never been one to shy away from these conversations, but I’ve never had to depend solely on my words for income. So when people I respect tell me to keep going, that this matters, that someone needs to say it... that’s what keeps me writing.
“The only thing that’s more powerful than hate is love.”
Bad Bunny said those words at the Grammys. Then he put them on the world’s biggest stage during the Super Bowl halftime show, displayed behind him for 100+ million people to see while ICE raids were terrorizing communities across the country.
One artist. One moment. More courage than every footwear and apparel brand combined.
And he did it while wearing his brand new adidas signature shoe.
The Grammy Speech That Set the Stage
A week before Super Bowl LX, Bad Bunny made history at the Grammy Awards. His album “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” became the first Spanish-language project to win Album of the Year. He also took home Best Música Urbana Album and Best Global Music Performance for “EoO.”
But it wasn’t the awards that dominated the headlines.
Accepting the award for Best Música Urbana Album, Bad Bunny began his speech with words that sent shockwaves through the room: “Before I say thanks to God, I’m gonna say: ICE out!”
The Los Angeles crowd responded with overwhelming cheers.
“We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens,” he continued. “We are humans and we are Americans.”
He went on, his voice steady: “I know it’s tough to know not to hate on these days... sometimes we get contaminados [contaminated]—I don’t know how to say that in English. The hate gets more powerful with more hate. The only thing that’s more powerful than hate is love. So please, we need to be different. If we fight, we have to do it with love.”
Later that night, accepting Album of the Year, he dedicated the award “to all the people who had to leave their homeland, their country to follow their dreams.”
The political context matters. Bad Bunny had already made the decision to exclude the continental United States from his 2025-2026 concert tour, a choice he explained was rooted in fear that “f***ing ICE could be outside” the concert venues. He’d already mocked the president in his “NUEVAYoL” music video, featuring a presidential voice apologizing to immigrants. He’d called out ICE officers in Puerto Rico on Instagram after witnessing them escorting people into unmarked vehicles.
Bad Bunny is Puerto Rican, which makes him an American citizen. But his activism extends beyond personal identity... it’s about defending the marginalized, the threatened, the people who deserve dignity but keep getting treated as less than human.
The backlash was immediate and predictable. The president called the Grammy Awards “virtually unwatchable” on social media. The speaker called Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl selection a “terrible decision,” suggesting 83-year-old Lee Greenwood should perform instead. The Secretary of Homeland Security said ICE agents would be “all over” the Super Bowl, adding about her message to the NFL: “They suck, and we’ll win.”
It’s rare that I find myself giving him credit, but kudos to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for backing the choice. The day after the Grammys, at his annual state of the league address, Goodell said: “Bad Bunny is, and I think that was demonstrated last night, one of the great artists in the world, and that’s one of the reasons we chose him. But the other reason is he understood the platform he was on, and that this platform is used to unite people, and to be able to bring people together with their creativity, with their talents, and to be able to use this moment to do that.”
The stage was set. The world was watching. And Bad Bunny had made it clear he wasn’t backing down.
The Super Bowl Performance
What Bad Bunny delivered at Levi’s Stadium tonight wasn’t just a halftime show. It was a cultural declaration.
The performance opened with Bad Bunny amid tall grass that suddenly appeared on the field, accompanied by a live brass band. The setup was intentionally symbolic... grounded in Puerto Rican imagery, natural, organic, alive.
Lady Gaga made a surprise appearance, performing a salsa-infused version of “Die with a Smile” with Latin flair that sent the crowd into a frenzy. Ricky Martin joined to belt out “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii,” Bad Bunny’s song addressing gentrification in Puerto Rico... a direct political statement about colonialism and economic exploitation wrapped in infectious reggaetón.
Celebrities filled Bad Bunny’s “Casita” during the performance: Pedro Pascal, Jessica Alba, Cardi B, Karol G. The Casita itself was a nod to Puerto Rican culture, a gathering place, a symbol of community and resistance.
At one point, Bad Bunny held up a football and told the crowd, “Together we are America,” as dancers waved flags from across Latin America and the world. It was a direct rebuke to the xenophobia dominating headlines, a reminder that America is a mosaic, not a monolith.
There was even a wedding on stage... whether real or symbolic, it doesn’t matter. The imagery was clear: love, commitment, joy in the face of hatred.
And then, as the performance ended, the jumbotron displayed the message one more time: “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.”
This was the first fully Spanish-language Super Bowl halftime show in history. Bad Bunny didn’t code-switch. He didn’t dilute his message. He didn’t apologize for who he is or what he stands for.
He threw a party. And he made a protest. At the same time. For millions of people around the world.
Last year, Kendrick Lamar used the halftime stage to make a statement about unity and West Coast hip-hop culture, weaving political storytelling through his performance with Samuel L. Jackson narrating the cultural and social context. Tonight, Bad Bunny took it further... explicitly political, unapologetically defiant, centered on love as resistance.
The Sneakers
And he did it all while wearing his brand new adidas BadBo 1.0 signature shoe.
The all-white “Resilience” colorway made its debut on the Super Bowl stage, the third colorway of the shoe to be seen in just one week. The shoe matched his cream and white outfit perfectly... a cropped football jersey, gloves with similar design cues, the whole look coordinated and intentional. The whole thing… chef’s kiss.
This wasn’t just another collaboration. The BadBo 1.0 is Bad Bunny’s first true signature model, not a reworked existing silhouette with his name attached. The design features a bulky, ‘90s-skate aesthetic with premium suede overlays wrapped over a mesh base, the iconic adidas Trefoil logo on the collar, and insoles reading “adidas PARA BAD BUNNY.”
The first colorway dropped the day after the Grammys, limited to just 1,994 pairs to commemorate the year of his birth. It sold out immediately. Bad Bunny wore the “Rise” colorway at the Super Bowl halftime press conference days before the game.
The shoes retail for $160, releasing via the adidas CONFIRMED app, and some colorways are already out and sold out.
Bad Bunny has partnered with adidas since 2021, working on multiple collaborations over the past five years. But this is different. This is his signature line. His name, his vision, his platform.
And he chose to wear it on the world’s biggest stage while making one of the boldest political statements in Super Bowl halftime history.
Think about that for a second. Your signature shoe. The thing you’ve been building toward for years. The product that will define your legacy in sneaker culture. And you use that moment... not just to sell shoes, but to stand for something.
That’s power. That’s purpose. That’s what it looks like when an artist understands the platform and isn’t afraid to use it.
adidas’ Missed Opportunity
So where was adidas?
Your biggest global star just performed on the world’s biggest stage. He wore your product. He made history as the first artist to deliver a fully Spanish-language Super Bowl halftime performance. Countless people watched.
And on Instagram? On Twitter? On adidas’ main social channels?
Silence.
No posts. No stories. No mention of Bad Bunny on either the adidas or adidas Originals accounts. I checked their Linktrees... nothing. Not a single link to the performance, the shoe launch, or even acknowledgment that it happened.
Maybe they promoted it in the adidas CONFIRMED app. Maybe if you had the app downloaded and notifications turned on, you saw something. I don’t keep brand apps on my phone anymore. If you have it, feel free to hit reply or let me know in the comments. And if adidas did confine their promotion to the app, that’s even weirder... leaving out the bulk of your fans who aren’t living inside your closed ecosystem.
Either way, why is the brand not hyper-active supporting their biggest star on the biggest stage?
This is Marketing 101. Your athlete does something historic, you amplify it. You ride that wave for weeks. You create content, you celebrate the moment, you connect the product to the cultural impact.
Jordan Brand would have had content ready to go the second MJ did anything remotely close to this. Nike used to ride these moments for entire campaigns. adidas had the perfect storm: a product launch tied to a cultural milestone tied to a massive global audience.
And they did... what? Nothing visible. Nothing shareable. Nothing that made it easy for fans to connect the dots between Bad Bunny’s performance and the shoes he was wearing.
There are three possibilities, and none of them are good:
They’re scared of the political message. Which means they’re willing to profit from Bad Bunny’s courage but not stand behind it.
They don’t understand the opportunity. Which is marketing incompetence at the highest level.
They did everything in the app and forgot that most people don’t live there. Which is a fundamental misunderstanding of how culture spreads.
Compare this to how brands used to support athletes who took stands. When Colin Kaepernick kneeled, Nike built an entire campaign around him. When Serena Williams faced discrimination, Nike defended her publicly. When Caster Semenya was targeted by athletics governing bodies, Nike stood behind her.
Those weren’t just good ethics. They were good business. They reinforced the brand’s values, deepened customer loyalty, and created cultural moments that transcended the product.
adidas had that chance tonight. Bad Bunny handed it to them on the world’s biggest stage.
And they were nowhere to be found.
Where Were ALL the Brands?
But it’s not just adidas.
Nike stayed silent. Jordan Brand stayed silent. New Balance, PUMA, Under Armour, Reebok... all quiet.
I keep thinking about that photo I saw of an ICE agent wearing Air Force 1s. Nike’s most iconic shoe, on the feet of someone terrorizing communities. And Nike says nothing. I understand this can be dismissed as one individual agent and it is not one of their athletes. I’m asking, what’s the real risk?
Quick reminder, protesting as a human being during current day America means risking your life. Corporations, however, have all the "legal persons" rights like property ownership, free speech, and, in some cases, religious freedom, but they never have to risk their lives to fight for what is right.
These brands are based in Portland. Their employees are watching their city get terrorized. Their neighbors are afraid. And the companies stay quiet.
Bad Bunny took the risk. He put his career, his endorsements, his safety on the line. He stood in front of 100+ million people and said: this is wrong, we are humans, love is more powerful than hate.
The brands? They took the profit and stayed quiet.
This is the pattern we’ve been talking about through this entire series. Brands built their fortunes on the backs of athletes and artists who stood for something. They sold us the idea that sports and culture and activism were intertwined, that “Just Do It” meant more than buying shoes, that brands could be forces for good in the world.
But when it actually costs something... when standing up might piss off shareholders or politicians or customers in certain markets... they go silent.
Bad Bunny might be considered an artist, not an athlete. But he showed what it looks like to be an athlete in the truest sense. To compete. To risk. To put yourself on the line for something bigger than yourself.
And the brands that claim to celebrate that spirit couldn’t even hit “post.”
What This Means
The actual number of people won’t be revealed until tomorrow, but it’s safe to say well over 100 million people watched Bad Bunny tonight.
They watched a cultural moment: the first Spanish-language Super Bowl halftime show, a celebration of Puerto Rican heritage and Latin music on a stage that has historically centered English-speaking American artists.
They watched a political moment: a direct rebuke to xenophobia and hate, a defense of immigrants and humanity, a statement that love is more powerful than the forces trying to divide us.
They watched a commercial moment: the debut of a signature shoe on the biggest platform in sports and entertainment.
Bad Bunny didn’t ask for permission. He didn’t wait for brands to approve his message. He didn’t tone it down or code-switch or play it safe.
He wore his truth. Literally. On his feet, on the screen, in his words.
There’s a parallel that’s impossible to ignore. Athletes used to do this with Nike’s support. Colin Kaepernick. Serena Williams. Caster Semenya. LeBron James speaking out on social issues. The WNBA players demanding justice. These weren’t just individual acts of courage... they were moments where brands chose to stand with their athletes, to amplify their voices, to take the risk alongside them.
Now we have an artist doing it while his own brand partner stays quiet.
What happens when the culture moves faster than the brands that claim to represent it?
What happens when one person has more courage than billion-dollar corporations?
Bad Bunny’s latest album, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” is in many ways his most overtly political work. It addresses Puerto Rico’s colonial status, the devastation of Hurricane Maria, the gentrification fueled by financial incentives that have displaced locals and driven up property costs. It’s about identity, resistance, and the fight to preserve culture in the face of exploitation.
The Super Bowl performance was an extension of that. Every choice... the sugarcane, the brass band, the Puerto Rican imagery, the message on the jumbotron, the guests he brought out, the wedding, the football held high with “Together we are America”... all of it was intentional. All of it was political. All of it was rooted in love.
Nike’s mantra is “if you have a body, you’re an athlete.”
Tonight, Bad Bunny showed what that actually means. Not the sanitized, marketable version. The real version. The version where you show up, you compete, you risk everything, and you stand for something bigger than yourself.
The Challenge to the Industry
This is what leadership looks like.
This is what using your platform actually means.
Bad Bunny put his career on the line. He risked losing endorsements. He faced political backlash from the highest levels of government. He knew he might lose fans, might face threats, might make himself a target.
And he did it anyway.
He did it in the uniform of a brand partner who wouldn’t even post about it.
Where is adidas’ support? Where is Nike’s? Where are the other brands?
The uncomfortable truth: they’re waiting to see which side wins.
They want to profit from culture without taking the risks that culture-makers take. They want to sell rebellion without actually rebelling. They want the glow of activism without the cost of activism.
But standing up for the marginalized and oppressed is never on the wrong side of history.
Brands built their fortunes on athlete activism. Muhammad Ali. Billie Jean King. Jackie Robinson. Arthur Ashe. These athletes didn’t just play their sports... they stood for something. They risked everything. And brands rode that legacy for decades, selling us the idea that sports could change the world.
Now one artist is showing them how it’s done in 2026.
And they can’t even push out a single social post?
If you work at one of these brands, I want you to ask yourself: what are we doing? What do we actually stand for? When the moment came to support our athlete making history and standing up for human dignity, where were we?
If you’re a fan of these brands, I want you to ask: what am I supporting? Is it just products? Or is it supposed to be something more?
Bad Bunny didn’t need the brands to stand with him. He did it anyway. But imagine what it would mean if they had. Imagine if adidas had flooded social media with celebration of this moment. Imagine if Nike had spoken up about the ICE agent in Air Force 1s. Imagine if brands based in Portland had defended their own communities.
That’s not radical. That’s basic human decency. And it’s good business.
The people who care about this stuff... who believe brands should stand for something... we’re your most loyal customers. We’re the ones who defend you when you mess up. We’re the ones who buy your products not just because they’re good, but because we believe in what you represent.
But when you go quiet at the moments that matter most, you lose us.
The Only Thing More Powerful Than Hate Is Love
“The only thing more powerful than hate is love.”
Bad Bunny said it at the Grammys. He put it on the jumbotron at the Super Bowl. And he proved it with everything he did with that performance.
He threw a party and made a protest.
He celebrated his culture and defended his people.
He launched his signature shoe and challenged the status quo.
He did it all at once, in front of 100+ million people, while wearing the product of a brand that couldn’t be bothered to support him publicly.
That’s courage.
That’s what brands used to do. That’s what they built their empires on. That’s what they should be doing now.
The gap between Bad Bunny’s courage and brand silence... that’s “The Courage Gap.”
And it’s not just disappointing. It’s a betrayal of everything these brands claim to stand for.
If you work in this industry, talk to your people. Push for transparency. Ask the uncomfortable questions. Demand better.
If you’re a fan, pay attention. Hold these brands accountable. Your money is your voice.
And if you’re Bad Bunny... thank you. Thank you for showing us what it looks like to stand for something when it costs you something. Thank you for not waiting for permission. Thank you for wearing your truth.
The brands will catch up eventually. Or they won’t. Either way, the culture is moving forward.
And love is winning.
If you think I’m wrong, tell me why. If you agree and you’re frustrated too, talk to your people. Because change doesn’t happen when everyone stays quiet. I’m leaving these latest posts public, so please feel free to share them. If you want to support independent sneaker journalism, consider becoming a paid subscriber.
Update: adidas posted… https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUh4YfXiJJI/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
Another good one, Nick.
A few notes to consider.
Puerto Ricans have no voting representation in DC. See, we’re only “Americans” when we abandon the Archipelago.
When the U.S. government (Congress) banned Calle 13 from all U.S. airwaves, including the colony of Puerto Rico, adidas signed the group and sponsored their tours for years.
Bad Bunny, who is connected to and mentored by Residente-Calle 13, is signed to adidas.
adidas arranged for Bad Bunny to become part of its Mercedes F1 team. adidas arranged a first ever F1 test run in Puerto Rico. adidas organized a full art gallery exhibition in Puerto Rico that ran simultaneously with the event. adidas was one of the sponsors of the Bad Bunny Puerto Rico residency. adidas has released BB Gazelle Puerto Rico exclusives as part of the BB awareness campaign.
I think people who truly know Bad Bunny are well aware of the brand relationship. adidas released a few ads to the socials leading up to the SB. The entire cast of the halftime show was in adidas. The interviewer in the pre show build up wore BB Gazelles.
I’m Puerto Rican, and I feel the love. I don’t need a major brand to ‘legitimize’ the anti-colonial movement. I need said brand to be there with the bag to help finance it. adidas helped generate over $300m to the local Puerto Rican economy at a time Democrats and Republicans could not be bothered to step in.
adidas has supported or now supports two artists who promote independence for Puerto Rico. Past pro Independence leaders were labeled terrorists by the U.S.
I’m free for questions about what I think of adidas Para Bad Bunny.