With many major brands such as Budweiser, Coke, Pepsi and Hyundai skipping out on spending the estimated $5.5 million for a :30-second ad slot during Super Bowl LV, one would think that this year’s assortment of spots might be along the quality of say Ashley’s Furniture or Carshield. Thank brands like Frito-Lay for not allowing that to happen.
Today, Frito-Lay officially launched a portfolio campaign called “‘Twas the Night Before Super Bowl” — a sequel to the popular “‘Twas the Night Before Kickoff” — which will feature the most NFL stars ever seen in a PepsiCo commercial: Peyton, Eli and Archie Manning, Troy Aikman, Joe Montana, Deion Sanders, Terry Bradshaw, Jerry Rice, Jerome Bettis — and of course, the return of Marshawn Lynch to narrate the story.
After the extremely positive response to “‘Twas the Night Before Kickoff,” which premiered during the NBC broadcast of the NFL Kickoff game in September, Frito-Lay created the sequel with another star-studded cast of NFL legends who hold a combined 22 Super Bowl rings.
Created by Frito-Lay’s in-house creative agency and directed by Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights, The Kingdom, Hancock, Battleship, Lone Survivor) the spot captures the same spirit of the original commercial.
In this reimagined version, in support of Tostitos, Doritos, Cheetos and Lay’s, we see some good old fashioned sibling rivalry between Peyton and Eli Manning — complete with a scolding from dad; Bradshaw reenacting “The Immaculate Reception” — this time as the receiver; and a spotlight on players from both teams playing in the Super Bowl: the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Watch the hilarious spot below:
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“We were so thrilled with our NFL season kickoff campaign and the first version of ‘Twas the Night Before Kickoff’ that we decided to bring it back, bigger and better than ever, on the biggest advertising day of the year,” said Rachel Ferdinando, SVP and Chief Marketing Officer, Frito-Lay North America. “Not only are we featuring America’s favorite snacks, but also America’s favorite NFL legends with the most ever in a commercial for us. We wanted to show the excitement and joy that players and fans alike have around the Super Bowl and do it in a fun and unexpected way that we hope puts a lot of smiles on people’s faces when they see it.”
The campaign kicks off today with versions that will air digitally and on television and will culminate with an exclusive new TVC on February 7 — marking the first time Frito-Lay has aired a portfolio commercial on Super Bowl Sunday.
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Super Bowl LV airs February 7 on CBS at 6:30 PM EST, 5:30 PM CST and 3:30 PST.
Colin Costello is the West Coast Editor of Reel 360. Contact him at colin@reel360.com or follow him on Twitter at @colinthewriter1
