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Gavin Patrick
BY GAVIN PATRICK / Multimedia Journalist
The Super Bowl is still months away, but football season has already brought us some great new commercials.
It’s not common to have this many commercials stand out to you enough to want to acknowledge it in an online newspaper publication, but that’s where I’m at right now.
The commercials I’m about to detail started airing around the start of the 2024 NFL season, so most of the selections are football related, but these advertisements go deeper than a star player telling you why Subway is the greatest sandwich shop.
There’s celebrities galore, pop culture references (old and new) and lots of well-developed, creative ideas.
There’s six selections to get through, so let’s jump in.
(Also, stay tuned for my review of this year’s Super Bowl commercials in February.)
“Bundle is Life” (feat. Patrick Mahomes & Ciesto Fernándaz) — State Farm
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI3HQelSLQo)
The marketing team at State Farm did it again, folks.
In their latest commercial with Patrick Mahomes, Dani Rojas -- a character from the hit sitcom “Ted Lasso” -- is so inspired by his savings generated from State Farm's Personal Price Plan that he decides to “bundle” a football with a fútbol. This creates (what looks to be) a pointed soccer ball with laces.
Of course, he decides to kick around this latest contraption and runs circles around his opponents before kicking the ball over the soccer net and through a field goal post. The camera hilariously cuts to marveled expressions from Mahomes and Jake from State Farm in between, who were watching from the sideline.
For those not familiar with “Ted Lasso,” Dani became a fan-favorite on the show for saying “fútbol is life” as a way to express his love for the game. So, in the commercial, he repeatedly yells out “bundle is life” to show how much bundling his home and auto insurance means to him.
One question remains, though: “Do you kick it or pass it?”
“PayPal Everywhere” (feat. Will Ferrell) — PayPal
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN-GZ0YffVo)
Will Ferrell using PayPal’s new cash back rewards program is the combination we didn't know we needed.
The commercial starts with Ferrell asking a shopper if they just paid with PayPal, to which she confirms and explains that the service can be used in-store and provides “wild” cash back rewards. She then shows him her phone screen she had taped to pay with through Apple Wallet, provoking a spontaneous sing-along from the comedian -- with himself.
Ferrell proceeds to travel through a variety of payment scenarios using PayPal’s Debit Mastercard, as he sings an adjusted refrain of Fleetwood Mac’s “Everywhere,” which goes, “I wanna pay with you everywhere,” instead of the real verse, “I wanna be with you everywhere.” (For kicks, I like Will’s version better.)
It’s another brilliant case of pairing pop culture’s finest with a monotonous, but convenient, day-to-day task, with the intent of inspiring consumers to follow suit. To speak for most, though, I may not take advantage of this apparent revelation from PayPal, but I’ll at least be singing along every time the commercial comes on.
“Make Your Gameday Epic” (feat. Megan Thee Stallion, Travis Kelce, Josh Allen, Justin Jefferson & Derrick Henry) — Pepsi
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbHlb0iWo0o)
Movie sequels have become increasingly popular as of late, so why not a commercial remake, too?
In honor of “Gladiator II” hitting theaters November 22, Pepsi decided to make a star-studded commercial that mimics a gladiator pit fight. NFL players Travis Kelce, Josh Allen, Justin Jefferson and Derrick Henry emerge from a tunnel in gladiator armor and work together to fend off a barrage of lions, as the empress, Megan Thee Stallion, watches on from above while rapping over the iconic Queen song, “We Will Rock You.”
The action is well choreographed and resembles the excitement of an actual football game. The players toss a cage-lock around like it's a football, ultimately to secure lions back in their cage. It even plays off the defining traits of a couple players, with Justin Jefferson griddying after locking up a lion and Derrick Henry ferociously stiff arming another to the dirt.
The commercial reimagines Pepsi’s 2004 commercial that paid homage to the original “Gladiator” movie that came out in 2000. The commercial featured three of the world’s biggest pop stars at the time -- Beyoncé, Britney Spears and Pink -- but they decided not to fight each other. Instead, they sang along with the crowd to “We Will Rock You,” showcasing their distinct vocals, and drank Pepsi together.
The emperor, Enrique Iglesias, watched from above and stood up in frustration, but then, a chest of Pepsi fell on a seesaw-like structure, launching him from his spot all the way down to the dirt. The camera then cuts to a hungry, unsecured lion, which presumably took care of the unappreciative emperor.
Unlike its remake, though, the commercial only aired internationally and not in the U.S, according to Rolling Stone.
“Paintin’ Manning” (feat. Peyton Manning) — Nationwide
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fyuCB0sxMQ)
In this one, Peyton Manning, a longtime Nationwide spokesman, is trying to show how Nationwide is “so much more” than just a great insurance company and that, supposedly, most people don’t know that it’s also one of America’s largest financial service companies. To illustrate, Manning reveals a hidden gem of his own: paintin'.
The play on words is simple but brilliant, and Manning’s delivery makes it easy to laugh at. Even the painting instructor can’t distinguish between Peyton and Paintin.’ All she knows is that Manning’s painting of himself turned out “lovely” (even the big forehead).
I guess this is also a way for Manning to reveal his new retirement hobby.
GEICO Training Camp Series — GEICO
(“Trainer’s Table,” “All Day,” “Fantasy Insurance Teams”)
GEICO has long been a sponsor of the NFL, and they finally made commercials that treat their agents like football players.
Two of the three commercials see GEICO “trainees” go through a series of drills designed to prepare them for customer support positions. The drills include showing mannequins how to use the GEICO app and catching phones launched from a jugs machine. (I can’t believe I just wrote that.)
In the third installment, the silliness goes a step further when ESPN talents Laura Rutledge and Dan Orlovsky approach the Gecko, or “Coach G,” at the camp to scout for their fantasy insurance teams. That’s right, they’re treating insurance like it’s fantasy football, and they came to GEICO because it has “all the top prospects” and a “97% satisfaction rating,” which, according to Rutledge, is “unreal.”
Then, Orlovsky and Rutledge start fangirling over a couple of trainees as they pass by. Orlovsky catches a sweaty towel from one, which he sniffs and says “smells like insurance,” and Rutledge asks another to sign her arm, but according to Coach G, “She only signs claims checks.”
You can never do enough, can you, GEICO?
“Football is for Food” (feat. Matthew McConaughey, Christian McCaffrey & Jerry Rice) — Uber Eats
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8ZTtgTNO2A)
I’ve never been a fan of conspiracy theories, but Matthew McConaughey might be onto something here.
As he’s watching football at a game day house party, Christian McCaffrey was putting down some French fries when he became confused why he’s still hungry. McConaughey then delves into his theory that football is an “elaborate scheme” to make you buy food.
He cites specific terminology in the game, such as “turnovers, pancake blocks, scrambles” and even the “feed me” gesture players do sometimes after making a play, as concrete evidence.
It doesn’t stop there, though. McConaughey then cites the names of specific players, Jabrill Peppers and C.J. Ham, and goes, “Slap on some Jerod Mayo and you got yourself a sandwich.” McCaffrey still wasn’t convinced, though.
Then, in perfect comedic timing, Jerry Rice takes a seat on the couch carrying food in his hands and McConaughey wryly asks, “And what are you eating, Jerry?” He responds: “Rice.”
Can you see where he’s coming from now?
Everyone loves to eat during football games, and I guess we finally have a good reason for it.
Thanks, Uber Eats.
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