Paul and Storm

2015 is the year. Super Bowl XLIX is the place.

The first campaign to have “Weird Al” Yankovic featured as the half time entertainer at the Super Bowl may not have achieved its primary objective. But it did attract a lot of attention, first in a NY Daily News article, then picked up at Nerdist. Eventually over 24,000 people signed a Change.org petition, and many thousands more expressed their support on various Facebook pages.

We have only begun. And we are starting this bus up again.

Why? Because the underlying facts about why “Weird Al” Yankovic is the ideal entertainer for the Super Bowl Half Time Show remain as true as ever. Namely:

• He has an incredibly wide, positive appeal. Not only is he a genuine American icon, and not only has he continued to win new fans decade after decade, but he’s done so by being good, clean fun. To quote The Simpsons: “He who is tired of Weird Al is tired of life.”
• Featuring Weird Al is to feature a wide swath of musical styles. “Another One Bites the Dust”…”Beat It”…”Smells Like Teen Spirit”…”Amish Paradise”…”Lump”…”Ridin'”…”Born This Way”. Musically, what do they all have in common? Very little! But through his humor, personality, and original songs, Weird Al appeals to fans of many types of music.
• Unparalleled showmanship and production values. Weird Al’s live show is a rock show disguised as a comedy show. All the elements are there: lights, video, costume changes, general spectacle. And given a stadium-sized budget? It would be awesome in every sense of the word.
• Nerds and geeks are “in”. They’re at the leading edge of popular culture, a trend that doesn’t show signs of ending any time soon. Tech innovators are celebrated. “The Big Bang Theory” pulls in killer ratings. EVERYONE carries miracle computers around in their pockets. Now is the time to bring one of nerdhood’s heaviest guns to one of America’s most celebrated events.

So go forth and spread the word. Sign the new Change.org petition. Make noise on Facebook, Twitter, and everywhere else people gather. The momentum may not have been enough for Super Bowl XLVII, but after being struck down, we’re now more powerful than anyone could possibly imagine.