Breaking down the symbolism in Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show

For his Super Bowl halftime show, Bad Bunny transported the field in Northern California around 3,500 miles, transforming it into the fields of Puerto Rico. Even before he launched into “Tití Me Preguntó,” the Puerto Rican superstar had suffused the set with symbols of the island — and a sense of wider Pan-Americanism.

Here's a breakdown of the Easter eggs hidden in plain view during the 13-minute set.

The show opened in a sugarcane field, an homage to Puerto Rico's main cash crop when it became a U.S. territory at the end of the 19th century. While the island transitioned from an agricultural society in the 1950s as tax incentives were introduced to encourage manufacturing, pava-sporting jíbaros (farmers) are still active — and iconic.

The jíbaros commonly wear all white, as Bad Bunny did throughout his appearance. White, after all, helps beat the Caribbean heat. But there's also a common saying in Latin America: “Esta vestido de punta en blanco” — meaning “dressed in all white” but in a more figurative sense, “well dressed.”

Touting its “coco frio” wares, the stall evokes the Caribbean roadside stands selling cold, refreshing coconut water in the fruit itself — none of that boxed stuff you'd find at the grocery store. Just add a straw. (But don't get it on your all-white clothes. It'll stain.) The coconut iconography proliferated the show, including the drawings of coconut footballs in the introduction.

Other roadside stops in the show: dominoes, a common pastime; a makeshift nail salon; a cash-only gold and silver stall; and a taco stand. Everyone, after all, loves tacos.

Bad Bunny made a quick stop for piraguas, a type of shaved ice. Each syrup bottle featured a different Latin American flag — a recurring theme in a show that took pains to acknowledge the interplay and commonalities among countries in the Americas. Take the boxers that followed soon after, Xander Zayas and Emiliano Vargas, who respectively wore the flags of Puerto Rico and Mexico on their shorts. Puerto Rico and Mexico have a heated rivalry in boxing that goes back decades, and both have boasted multiple world champions.

Dancing outside the casita were a range of celebrities with ties to different countries in the Americas: singers Cardi B (Dominican Republic), Karol G (Colombia) and Young Miko (Puerto Rico), actors Jessica Alba (Mexico) and Pedro Pascal (Chile) and baseball player Ronald Acuña Jr. (Venezuela). Influencer Alix Earle and Bad Bunny's business partner Dave Grutman were also there.

And we can't forget the music itself: The sequence included a projection of the sapo concho cartoon that's become synonymous with Bad Bunny and Puerto Rico, as well as an appearance from Nicaraguan conductor Giancarlo Guerrero.

One of the most talked-about segments of the show was the very real wedding officiated onstage, where the vows were immediately followed by a surprise performance from Lady Gaga. Clad in a light blue dress, Gaga sported a large pinkish-red flower: the flor de maga, the national flower of Puerto Rico.

A less official symbol of Puerto Rico? The small child asleep on the chairs on the outskirts of the wedding. It's a common sight at Latin American gatherings, as kids fall asleep on the makeshift beds while their parents dance the night away.

After the wedding, it was time to party. Serving up a shot was Toñita, the owner of Brooklyn’s Caribbean Social Club — one of the last Puerto Rican social clubs in New York. She received a shoutout in his song “NuevaYol.” On the siding, made up to look like a liquor or beer brand was the word “Conejo” — fitting for El Conejo Malo (quite literally, “Bad Bunny.”)

No stranger to anthemizing a major sporting event (“La Copa de la Vida,” anyone?), Ricky Martin — another Puerto Rican legend and crossover star — sang Bad Bunny's “Lo Que Le Pasó a Hawaii” sitting on a white, plastic chair in front of a plantain tree. Not only are the chairs a common sight at gatherings, but the setting also evokes the cover of Bad Bunny's “Debí Tirar Más Fotos.” That album just took home several Grammys, one of which cameoed right before Martin's performance.

Bad Bunny and several jíbaros scaled sparking power poles for a performance of “El Apagón” (“The Blackout”). The tableau referenced the catastrophic Hurricane Maria and its aftermath as well as the chronic power outages that persist on the island.

The Puerto Rican flag waved during the performance featured a lighter shade of blue than the official flag — and it's no printing accident. It's the original Puerto Rican flag, a symbol closely associated with the independence movement. When the U.S. took over the island, the blue was darkened to mirror the U.S. flag.

The entire performance was a gold mine for any experts in vexillology — the study of flags. Toward the end of his performance, Bad Bunny proclaimed, “God bless America,” before reciting the countries that comprise North and South America as the representative flags streamed behind him. It was a final nod to Pan-Americanism and the idea that “America” encompasses far more than the United States.

AP Music Writer Maria Sherman and Mallika Sen contributed to this report from “NuevaYol.”

Bad Bunny performs during the halftime show of Super Bowl 60 between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Bad Bunny performs during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Bad Bunny performs during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Ricky Martin performs with Bad Bunny during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Bad Bunny, center top, performs during the halftime show of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

A couple dressed as a bride and groom participate in the Bad Bunny performance during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Bad Bunny and Lady Gaga perform during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Bad Bunny performs during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Bad Bunny performs during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Bad Bunny performs during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Bad Bunny performs during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market is slipping Thursday after oil prices resumed their climb.

The S&P 500 fell 0.3% and is on track for a fourth drop in five days after setting its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 83 points, or 0.2%, as of 1:01 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.4% lower.

A halt in the torrid run for stocks benefiting from the artificial-intelligence boom has slowed the U.S. market recently. Not even another better-than-expected profit report from Nvidia was enough to kick it back into gear.

The chip company reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, while also forecasting revenue for the current quarter that cleared analysts’ estimates. “The buildout of AI factories — the largest infrastructure expansion in human history — is accelerating at extraordinary speed,” CEO Jensen Huang said.

But such performances and such talk have become routine, and Nvidia's stock swiveled between losses and gains before falling 1.4%.

Some analysts said the weakness may have simply been because investors were locking in profits after Nvidia’s stock had soared nearly 70% over the prior year, more than double the S&P 500’s 27% jump. The broad AI industry is also getting criticism for becoming too expensive, as well as too circular as Nvidia has bought ownership stakes in companies that use its own chips that drive Nvidia’s revenue.

Pressure built on Wall Street, meanwhile, as the price for a barrel of Brent crude oil climbed 1.7% to $106.81 and trimmed its loss for the week. Oil prices have been swinging up and down with uncertainty about how long the war with Iran will keep the Strait of Hormuz shut, which is preventing oil tankers from exiting the Persian Gulf to deliver crude.

The higher oil prices pushed Treasury yields upward in the bond market, resuming rises following a slowdown the day before.

Climbing yields have cranked up the pressure on financial markets worldwide. They're slowing economies and weighing on prices for stocks and all kinds of other investments. Besides driving up rates for mortgages, high yields could also curtail companies’ borrowing to build the AI data centers that have been supporting the U.S. economy’s growth recently.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.61% from 4.57% late Wednesday.

It had gotten near 4.63% in the morning, after a report gave the latest signal that the U.S. job market remains in better shape than economists expected. The number of U.S. workers applying for unemployment benefits last week unexpectedly declined in an indication of fewer layoffs.

But yields eased a bit following a mixed preliminary report showing weaker-than-expected growth for business activity among U.S. services businesses and improved growth for U.S. manufacturers. Companies are feeling the effects of accelerating inflation and are seeing subdued growth in their order books, the preliminary data from an S&P Global survey said.

“The damaging economic impact from the war in the Middle East is becoming increasingly evident in the business surveys,” according to Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Inflation is worsening even beyond the high oil prices caused by the Iran war, while U.S. households are showing widespread discouragement about the economy.

Elsewhere on Wall Street, Walmart fell 7.2% following its profit report. The retailer delivered another quarter of impressive revenue but offered up weaker forecasts for upcoming profit than analysts expected.

On the winning side of Wall Street was Ralph Lauren, which jumped 12.2% after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe following bigger moves in Asia.

South Korea’s Kospi Kospi soared 8.4% thanks to strength for technology stocks. Samsung Electronics jumped 8.5% after its labor union and management reached an agreement late Wednesday that averted a strike. SK Hynix, a chip company partnering with Nvidia, surged 11.2%.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 jumped 3.1%, while indexes fell 1% in Hong Kong and 2% in Shanghai.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

Trader Aaron Ford works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Edward McCarthy works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A Global Medical Response helicopter sits in front of the New York Stock Exchange before the planned IPO of GMR Solutions, Inc., Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Monday, May 18, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A currency trader talks on the phone near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)