Lindsey Weedston
A young woman’s post in a Reddit forum went viral after she reported that her boyfriend and roommate punched a hole in the wall after he exploded with rage over the prank Tubi commercial that played during the 2023 Super Bowl.
The 15-second ad was designed to make it look like someone was changing the channel away from Super Bowl coverage to boot up the Tubi streaming app and put on a movie instead.
While many people found the prank ad to be amusing, one man definitely did not, and he lost his girlfriend over it after he started screaming at her, assuming that she was the one putting on Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
“For those of you who are unaware, during the Super Bowl commercials Tubi (a streaming app) played a prank where they made it look like someone was changing the TV over to their app,” the Redditor explained. “I’m sure that in many households it caused chaos and was a funny event but not in mine.”
The OP says that she tried to explain that she was not the one changing the channel and it was clearly a prank commercial, which becomes clear very quickly after just a few seconds as the Tubi logo appears on screen and the next ad plays. Unfortunately, this did not calm him in time to save their wall.
“My boyfriend thought I was the one changing the channel and began screaming at me violently, calling me things that I don’t even want to write down. Even as I told him it was a commercial he ignored me and kept blowing up at me and punched a hole in our living room wall.
“He eventually realised what actually happened and awkwardly apologised but I was so disgusted over his reaction to a 15 second commercial. I feel like if you can’t keep you anger in check and get that violent over something so small I don’t want to be around for it.”
This is a good instinct from the Reddit user, as this kind of anger over something small is a massive red flag. It’s very common to find that in abusive relationships, the blowups began with screaming, insults, and property destruction before eventually moving on to hitting the victim rather than the walls. Screaming and insulting your partner in itself is also an act of verbal abuse and no one should have to tolerate it, regardless of football happening.
The couple had moved in together two months ago, which also raises concerns. Abusers often don’t out themselves like this until they’re living with their partner, as it makes it much easier to hide the abuse, and it makes it harder to leave when you signed a lease with someone.
The original Reddit post was deleted after it went viral but had already spread to other social media sites in screenshots. As the Twitter user above points out, it’s disappointing to learn that the OP’s parents were not supportive of her decision.
“My parents told me that I’m overreacting since he had a bit to drink and the Super Bowl gets everyone riled up but I don’t feel I am,” she wrote. “I don’t think it’s normal to be that angry.”
She’s not overreacting and it’s not normal to be that angry over sports. Getting a little upset would be normal. Punching a hole in the wall is not normal unless maybe you’re a construction worker demolishing a place or a stunt double in an action film. It’s also alarmingly true that domestic violence incidents spike during pretty much every major sporting event like the Super Bowl.
Hopefully, the OP will now see all the support coming from commenters on Reddit and beyond and stay away from this guy forever.
