Another year, another Superbowl done and dusted where football players crush and tackle each other, trying to score points with a pigskin. Other than the actual game itself, people tune in for the half-time concert entertainment (This year it was a hip-hop spectacular).
Directly Referenced
Chevy – The Sopranos.
Re-creating the opening title sequence of the iconic 90s – early 00s HBO drama a la Tony Soprano, this time with Tony’s daughter Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) driving her electric Chevy. With all the modern New York landmarks and signage in place, Meadow parks her car perfectly, making reference to how hopeless she was at parking in the final scene of the final episode of The Sopranos, where the family unite before the famous black-out ending.
This time, when Meadow parks, she meets up with her brother A.J. (Robert Iler). Awww…
General Motors – Austin Powers.
Mike Myers, Mindy Sterling, Rob Lowe, and Seth Green reprise their roles as Dr. Evil, Frau Farbissina, Young Number Two, and Scott Evil from the Austin Powers movies. They’ve taken over General Motors Headquarters in Detroit, and because climate change is the number one threat to the world, Dr. Evil is now number two. So he has to save the world to take over the world – via lowering emissions.
Verizon – Cable Guy.
Jim Carrey dusts of his overalls to bring back Chip Douglas – the cable TV installer from 1997’s The Cable Guy. But technology has changed since the movie was released, where cable is borderline obsolete and everything is 5G and WiFi. ‘Cable Guy’ is in complete denial when he visits an apartment that’s similar in design to a previous customer of his.
Loosely Referenced
Lay’s – The 40 Year Old Virgin / Knocked Up / Sausage Party.
Paul Rudd and Seth Rogan reflect on their times together while snacking on potato chips – especially taking a ribbing at any projects they’ve worked on.
T-Mobile – Scrubs.
While not referenced directly by name, location or careers, having Donald Faison and Zach Braff perform a song and dance piece together has all the hallmarks of the Turk / J.D. days of Sacred Heart Hospital while in their… Scrubs.
Stretching It
Amazon – Saturday Night Live.
Using the power-couple play of Scarlett Johannson and SNL’s Colin Jost – with the interesting fact that they ‘met’ on the show, the couple demonstrate how Amazon’s Alexa can be efficient in everyday home usage, but it also could be ‘too efficient’.
Planters – Community.
While putting the Community fan nerds at ease with Jeff Winger Joel McHale and Senor Chang Ken Jeong together in a commercial about nuts, it’s not Community driven. Unless you watch this video at the 2 minute mark, you can clutch at straws for a Season Four “Gas-leak” year reference. But then again, their discussions are similar to their Darkest Timeline podcast – which is every nerdy thing about Community. Just make the damn movie!
Nissan – Any car action movie.
Gather a few Marvel superheroes (Brie Larson, Danai Gurira and Dave Bautista), an unlikely action hero (Eugene Levy), drag in a long-term performing partner as a cameo (Catherine O’Hara) take the piss out of the Fast franchise, and you have yourself a winner. Cock-a-doodle-doo.
There were plently more Superbowl ads with other big name stars, but I’ll let you do the googling.
