Dolly Parton's first Super Bowl ad is surprisingly tone-deaf in reframing "9 to 5" as "5 to 9" to promote SquareSpace

Slate

The “5 to 9” commercial is promoting working 5 p.m. to 9 a.m. -- not 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. -- on your side hustle with the help of SquareSpace. "It’s actually antithetical to give Parton’s '9 to 5' a gig economy makeover for a tech giant to run during the Super Bowl—especially in the midst of a full-blown crisis disproportionately impacting women and communities of color," says Hilary Hughes. "The commercial will air and the world will move on, but the fact remains that Parton—an artist deservedly lauded as one of the most skillful, altruistic, and generous performers of all time—diminished one of the most potent, and beloved, messages behind her own work while dressing it up as a tribute. And while the new lyrics are clever, the old ones feel far more in step with what many are living through as they file for unemployment in record numbers, turn their kitchens into bakeries, their cars into cabs, their homes into hotels that stay unbooked and empty: It’s enough to drive you crazy if you let it. Dolly, I will always love you—but I will not always love the commodification of your work."

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