Bad Bunny’s 2026 Super Bowl halftime show on Feb. 8 in Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., continues to resonate worldwide. It was one of those rare cultural moments likely to be remembered for years – not only for captivating fans of Latin music, but also for shaking the U.S. mainstream at a time of heightened tension around immigration and the treatment of Latino communities in the United States.
The performance delivered a dense layer of symbolism, providing rich material for journalists, commentators, social media creators, and scholars.
Viewed through the lens of soft power, a concept coined by political scientist Joseph Nye (1937-2025) the show projected Puerto Rican symbols to a global audience, reinforced the Spanish language on the NFL’s biggest stage and reframed “America” as the entire hemisphere rather than a single nation. In that sense, it demonstrated cultural influence and global reach without coercion.
Yet soft power alone does not fully capture the depth of Bad Bunny’s artistic proposal. The symbolic weight of the performance opens the door to multiple academic readings – from political theory and studies of coloniality and necropolitics, to semiotics and urban studies, including debates on gentrification, diaspora and transnationalism.
For Juan Carlos Rocha Osornio, associate professor, teaching stream, in the Department of Italian, Spanish, Portuguese & Latin American Studies, it was a historic moment for the entire Latin American community and a performance that challenged mainstream narratives in the United States. He shared his analysis in interviews with CityNews and Trending Now, where he helped decode the messages and symbolism embedded in the show.
“Bad Bunny is an advantage to us, Spanish-language teachers, because he serves as a great motivation tool. Many of our students love his music. He uses real, natural language rather than textbook examples. This gives students genuine exposure to vocabulary, grammar in context, and everyday phrases rather than simplified classroom Spanish,” Professor Rocha Osornio said. His songs reflect Puerto Rican and broader Latin culture, slang, identity, and social themes. “All of which are great discussion topics and help deepen students’ cultural competence,” he analyzed.
The performance was watched live by more than 125 million viewers on Feb. 8. To grasp its reach, clips from the show generated more than four billion social media views worldwide within 24 hours, according to Nielsen data.
In this complementary interview, Professor Rocha Osornio reflects on the symbolism behind the performance and responds to additional questions about identity, colonial history and cultural politics.
How does the Latin American imagery in Bad Bunny’s performance function as a political statement about identity, belonging, and the idea of America beyond the United States?
Toward the end of the show, Bad Bunny invoked the phrase “God bless America” and then recited the names of countries all the way from South America to Canada, while performers carried their flags. This wasn’t just a patriotic nod—it was a deliberate redefinition of “America” as the entire Western Hemisphere, not just the United States.
What is the significance of the specific Puerto Rican symbols in terms of colonial history and contemporary social-political commentary?
They’re loaded with colonial history, economic struggle, and contemporary political critique. Each one speaks directly to Puerto Rico’s status as a U.S. territory and to ongoing debates about sovereignty, dignity, and survival. Sugar cane plantations symbolize economic extraction. Puerto Rico as a site of production for outside powers. The power poles are in reference to “El apagón”, which left Puerto Rico without power for several months because of Hurricane Maria in 2017. Thousands of people died as a result. This exposed fragile infrastructure and the unwillingness of the US government to help promptly.
In what ways did the performance redefine or challenge mainstream narratives in the United States?
Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance challenged mainstream narratives not through overt slogans, but through symbolism. It reoriented who gets to define “American,” what Latino identity looks like, and how cultural power operates in the U.S. Latino performers are often seen as mere guests in mainstream English-dominant spaces. Bad Bunny inverted this structure by performing completely in Spanish, a language that is often marginalized even though millions of people speak it in the country.
What are the implications of structuring this performance around three key messages–love, joy and unit–in the context of ongoing immigration debates, migration experiences, and Latin American diaspora communities?
This is perhaps what stood out the most for me. Bad Bunny used his performance to send a clear message that migrants are human beings who deserve to be treated with respect and dignity.