VI cameos in Super Bowl LX

The Virgin Islands made two brief cameos during Super Bowl LX on Sunday, catching the spotlight during one of the most-watched sporting events in the world.

The first was during the Puppy Bowl, a programme aired prior to the big game where puppies are shown playing in a model stadium as commentators narrate their actions. Among this year’s “players” was Miss Coco, a foster pup from the Humane Society of the BVI.

During the broadcast, Humane Society Manager Vijay Bissoondutt made an appearance onscreen, describing Miss Coco as a ping-pong ball due to her high energy — a far cry from when she first arrived at the shelter at six weeks old, malnourished and flea-ridden.

“She needs to be in a home that has energy, kids,” Mr. Bissoondutt exclaimed. “She’s going to be busy!”

Miss Coco made her debut in the second quarter of the game for “Team Ruff,” becoming the first dog from the territory to be featured in the Puppy Bowl, which was in its 23rd year.

“It’s definitely a big thing for us,” Mr. Bissoondutt told the Beacon after the event. “It actually put us on the map — and especially [for] such a big audience. I’m sure there’s a lot of people who watch the Puppy Bowl who don’t even know where the BVI is or what the BVI is. So it was very good exposure, not just to the Humane Society, but to the whole British Virgin Islands. For us as the only animal shelter in the British Virgin Islands, it makes us feel great. I’m thrilled.”

The Humane Society partnered with Caribbean Canine Connection, an organisation that rehomes dogs within the United States, to place Miss Coco in a foster home in New York two months prior to filming, Mr. Bissoondutt said.

Flag flying

The second appearance for the VI was a blink-and-you’ll miss-it moment. At the end of Bad Bunny’s performance during the Super Bowl Halftime Show, the Puerto Rican rapper began naming countries and territories throughout the Americas.

In a crowd carrying flags behind him, the green of St. Ursula and the red of the Union Jack could be seen blowing in the wind towards the back.

At one point, Bad Bunny even gave a shoutout to the “entire Antilles.” A message displayed behind him read, “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.”

Kareem-Nelson Hull, who watched the show from the VI, was thrilled.

“The flag — I think the flag is actually the icing on the top of the cake,” Mr. Hull told the Beacon. “Seeing Bad Bunny not only represent his Puerto Rican culture so much but using so many elements that relate to the entire Caribbean experience: I thought that was really authentic, and it made me proud initially just to see him representing his territory in that way.”

Viewership for this year’s game both exceeded and fell short of expectations. According to The New York Times, viewership averaged 124.9 million people and peaked at a record 137.8 million after halftime. But overall viewership was down by 2.8 million from last year.

VI residents like Mr. Hull took to Facebook to applaud the sight of flags from the VI and other Caribbean jurisdictions.

So did Premier Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley.

“We’re pleased to see our flag among all the other flags of the Americas that the performer chose to display,” Mr. Wheatley’s office posted Monday. “We’re grateful whenever our beautiful flag is flown anywhere positively around the world.”

The statement included a video of the flag flying on the football field in Santa Clara, California.

“Bad Bunny showed the world our flag for a brief moment,” the post continued. “Let’s work this week and always to ensure it flies higher and brighter evermore.”

Trump controversy

Not everyone was pleased with the performance, however.

The September announcement of Bad Bunny as the headliner for the halftime show, one of the biggest and most coveted performances in music, drew criticism from US President Donald Trump.

An alternative event, the “All-American Halftime Show” sponsored by conservative political group Turning Point USA, was broadcast at the same time with Kid Rock as a headliner. But the NFL’s halftime show proved to have far more reach.

Mr. Hull, for one, was pleased.

“In the end, when [Bad Bunny] decided to include all of us as part of the Americas, I thought it just revealed a different level of consciousness: a great story of choreography and inclusion,” he said.