One of the most coveted pieces of Super Bowl merchandise this year won’t be sold in stores, and the NFL probably doesn’t want to see it in the stands. It’s a rally towel featuring a cute, punting bunny graphic by acclaimed L.A. illustrator Lalo Alcaraz, honoring this year’s halftime show performer Bad Bunny. However, the other side carries an unambiguous message: “ICE OUT.”
Before the game, activists clandestinely distributed 15,000 of these towels to fans entering Levi’s Stadium for the Super Bowl, aiming to seed grassroots support for a performer who recently spoke up for Latinos and immigrants at the Grammy Awards. Though the NFL prefers to keep the game and halftime show free from political statements—especially regarding the ICE raids that have impacted American cities over the past year—the group behind the effort hopes their message is impossible to ignore in the crowd.
“I’m a big ‘Joy is resistance’ person,” said Shasti Conrad, a leader of the group Contra-ICE and vice chair of the Democratic National Committee. “Today is a celebration of American sports, and there are opportunities to really be heard here. It’s about drawing attention to show that there is massive support to challenge Trump and the Department of Homeland Security. Any opportunity to push back is important.”
This kind of pushback reportedly contributed to President Trump deciding not to attend the game in person. “I’m anti-them,” Trump said earlier, referring to performers Bad Bunny and Green Day. “I think it’s a terrible choice. All it does is sow hatred. Terrible.”
While a competing halftime show from Kid Rock for Turning Point USA aims to rally the MAGA faithful, Green Day’s pre-game set openly challenged ICE agents. “Wherever you are: quit that s- job you have,” Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong said. “Come on this side of the line.”
The NFL typically exercises tight control over messaging from its halftime performers, but this year’s choice of Bad Bunny—announced late last year—carries unusual significance given the ongoing national debate over raids on immigrant communities. These actions have led to the deaths of two protesters and many detainees in custody.
On his way to winning the Grammy for Album of the Year, the Puerto Rican superstar was emphatic in his remarks: “We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans,” he said, condemning ICE. “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. We don’t hate them. We love our people. We love our family, and there’s a way to do it with love.”
This new wave of culture-jamming protest continues that sentiment with art from Alcaraz, a renowned Southern California cartoonist who worked on the animated series *Bordertown*. Bad Bunny fans will recognize the Puerto Rican pava straw hat in the graphic, accompanied by obvious anti-ICE imagery.
“Art has always been a way to confront hate wherever it appears. When injustice becomes part of everyday life, artists have a responsibility to make it visible,” Alcaraz said in a statement to *The Times*. “In a public space and cultural moment the whole country is watching, images, color, and movement become a way to express love and push back against hate in plain sight.”
Conrad adds that Bad Bunny has been vocal about the vital role immigrants play in the country, the importance of celebrating Latinos, and recognizing Puerto Rico as part of America. “I think he’ll use this platform to make sure it’s clear he’s on the right side of history.”
Early Sunday, around 50 activists with Contra-ICE set up along heavily trafficked areas to distribute the towels to incoming Patriots and Seahawks fans in Santa Clara. “It’s not the same as the people putting their bodies on the line in Minneapolis,” Conrad said, “but it’s likely to be extremely visible during the broadcast. I hope it gives cover to people so they feel like they can participate in ways big and small.”
Several athletes, including figure skater Alysa Liu and skier Jessie Diggins, have expressed similar sentiments during the Winter Olympics, and the Grammys were filled with artists speaking out against ICE overreach onstage.
While Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance is expected to be more subtle and celebratory, having the world’s biggest Latin artist play at the most quintessentially American cultural event is a statement in itself.
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2026-02-08/how-did-those-bad-bunny-themed-anti-ice-towels-get-into-super-bowl
