In an article negative towards the performance, Dick Shippy of the Akron Beacon Journal called the show, "one of the dumbest halftime shows ever conceived". Shippy called the show "ludicrous". He criticized the inclusion of the appeal for participation in Hands Across America (a demonstration against hunger in the United States), writing, "there could be no more inappropriate place for such an appeal than a Super Bowl game. Anything connected with Super Bowl and Super Bowl Week screams of conspicuous consumption." Shippy went on to criticize the dedication of the performance to Martin Luther King Jr., writing, "only a little bit behind in the bitter irony category was the Up with People halftime tribute to Dr. Martin Liuther King Jr. Do you have a feeling that a pitch for brotherhood, made at a Roman circus, is something less than heartfelt?"
