Black History is infinity ➰ The Super Bowl halftime show — now a global cultural platform — was once an afterthought for advertisers, until Keenen Ivory Wayans forced the industry to take it seriously. Yes...Keenen Ivory Wayans turned Super Bowl halftime into a cultural stage. The modern halftime show—the spectacle, the celebrity, the global cultural weight—exists because Wayans demonstrated that attention could be redirected, measured, and monetized. In 1992, during Super Bowl XXVI, Wayans programmed a live special of In Living Color at the same time as the official halftime broadcast — explicitly designed to pull viewers away from the NFL feed. Millions followed. For the first time, halftime wasn’t invisible. It was competition. That wasn’t just a ratings moment — it was a market signal. Wayans showed that audiences will choose culture over convention. Advertisers took notice. Networks recalibrated. And the NFL was forced to respond: halftime could no longer be treated as filler. It had become an asset. This disruption didn’t come out of nowhere. By the early 1990s, In Living Color was already reshaping television — centering Black humor, music, dance, and social commentary in ways that mainstream comedy had never seen. The series launched careers that would go on to define pop culture, from Jamie Foxx to Jim Carrey to Jennifer Lopez. Wayans carried that influence into film, where he wrote, directed, and produced franchises that reshaped comedy economics and narrative strategy. I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, Scary Movie, White Chicks, and Little Man proved that Black-led comedy could drive global returns while influencing how studios marketed humor and audience identity. But the halftime moment was different. It wasn’t cultural impact — it was institutional impact. Within a year, the NFL overhauled its halftime strategy. Beginning with Michael Jackson’s 1993 performance, halftime became a destination — built for advertisers, brands, and global audiences. Music and spectacle moved onto the field; the break became the event. That wasn’t accidental influence. It was strategic disruption. Wayans understood something the industry had consistently underestimated: attention is power, and culture determines where it flows. By proving that Black creativity could command mass attention on the biggest stage in American media, he changed how leagues, brands, and advertisers think about audience engagement. From sketch comedy to the largest advertising platform on the planet, Keenen Ivory Wayans didn’t just influence culture — he reprogrammed the system. 📍 Follow along this month as we continue honoring the builders, the breakthroughs, and what comes next.