Arnold Schwarzenegger leads A-listers appearing as Zeus in Super Bowl adverts with BMW trailer

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Jamie-Lynn Sigler could be seen returning to her Sopranos roots on Sunday night during one of many lavish Super Bowl commercials.

The actress, who played Meadow Soprano in the HBO hit which ran from 1999-2007 was back on Sunday night starring in her iconic role, only this time driving a Chevrolet’s for the Super Bowl’s ad for its all-electric 2024 Silverado EV.

The commercial saw the show’s iconic opening credit sequence recreated for the modern day. The original saw Sopranos patriarch patriarch played by the late James Gandolfini, driving from Manhattan to New Jersey in his 1999 Chevy Suburban.

But in Sunday’s commercial, seen by an estimated record 117million people who tuned in for the Super Bowl, it was Sigler who was behind the wheel.

The commercial had a twist at the end saw her reunited with Sopranos co-star Robert Iler, who played her on-screen brother, A.J. Soprano. 

Sigler’s appearance was one of dozens of the multi-million dollar commercials that aired between plays which are almost as beloved as actually watching the game itself. 

With more than 100 million people tuning in, the pressure is always been high for major brands to deliver.

This year’s commercials were packed with celebrities trying to sell everything crypto to cars with NBC charging $7million for a 30 second spot.  

This year’s Super Bowl advertisers were aiming to deliver a night of ads heavy with celebrities and nostalgia in an effort to entertain Americans weary of two years of pandemic living.

A-listers from Kevin Hart, Megan Thee Stallion, Ewan McGregor, Zendaya also pitched everything from travel packages to potato chips.

Sideman Andy Richter dresses up as Julius Caesar to push Avocados from Mexico.

Blast from the past actress, Lindsay Lohan, looks hot and sweaty on an elliptical machine in an ad for Planet Fitness.  

MCDONALD’S 

Kanye ‘Ye’ West made an appearance in a commercial for McDonald’s which played just before kick off on Sunday night.

West, 44, emerged at the end of a spot for the fast food giant in which a series of customers expressed pause when asked what they wanted to eat, saying, ‘Can I get uhhhhhh.’

In the commercial, the Grammy-winning artist entered the drive-thru of the establishment in a black Sherp ATVs, expressing the same indecision when deciding what to order.

Other notable names to appear in the clip included NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace and FIFA Twitch streamer Edwin Castro.

McDonald’s said in a news release that the advertisement was based on the ‘universal fan truth’ that ‘sometimes, you just can’t decide what to order.’

T-MOBILE 

Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus teamed up for a pair of Super Bowl commercials promoting T-Mobile‘s 5G network as part of the company’s #DoItForThePhones campaign. 

‘When I see a problem, I am going to fix it,’ says Dolly. ‘5-G phones, trapped on limited 5G networks,’ says Dolly, encouraging viewers to consider switching to T-Mobile so they can thrive on the networks they deserve.

Nostalgia is big: T-Mobile reunites Scrubs stars Zach Braff and Donald Faison. 

General Motors´ ad features characters from the ‘Austin Powers’ movies hawking GM´s electric vehicle technology, including a reprise of Mike Myers´ role as Austin Powers´ nemesis, Dr. Evil. 

Verizon recreated the 1996 movie The Cable Guy with Jim Carrey to tout its 5G Internet offering. There are few ads that are trying to send a serious or heartfelt message.

BMW

BMW’s commercial saw Arnold Schwarzenegger as Zeus, the god of the sky (or in this advert, the god of lightning) whose wife, Salma Hayek Pinault, gives him the EV BMW iX to spice up retirement.

The iconic actors play Zeus and wife Hera who’ve retired from Mount Olympus for their quiet final chapter – though things do not go as planned.

Actor Ralf Moeller as makes a cameo in the spot as, Sea God and brother to supreme God Zeus, Poseidon. 

After announcing that he and his wife Hera were retiring for God business, the couple moves to Southern California.

‘Retiring from Mount Olympus to Palm Springs, Zeus is completely underwhelmed by all earthly electric things – until he meets the all-electric BMW iX M60,’ the car company said on its website. 

The advertisement sees a buff and white bearded Arnold attempting to relax in the pool and on the golf course. However, he is constantly pestered by neighbors who need him to zap things like carts and chain saws with some of his extra power.

Arnie seems to have a tough time using basic human devices and needs his gold-leaf clad goddess wife to step in.    

‘Sweetheart … it’s not rocket science,’ coos Hayek helping the Greek God operate the microwave.

Frustrated, Zeus cuts the power to all of Palm Springs. His wife then steps in to cheer him up with BMW’s all-new, all-electric SUV: the BMW #iX M60. 

‘The only thing powerful enough to lift Zeus’s spirits? The Ultimate Electric Driving Machine,’ the automaker quipped on social media.

Actor Ralf Moeller as makes a cameo in the spot as, Sea God and brother to supreme God Zeus, Poseidon. 

Several Super Bowl ads are always stuffed with celebrities, but this year, many ads are overstuffed with them. 

Kia was also looking at showcasing their first electric vehicle, the Kia EV6. It’s the brand´s first battery electric vehicle, in its ad, along with a cute ‘robo dog.’ Nissan gave a nod to its all-electric 2023 Nissan Ariya.

A first time advertiser, Wallbox, showcases an actual survivor of being struck by lightning in its ad for its home electric vehicle charger.

MICHELOB ULTRA 

In Michelob Ultra’s ad, a bowling alley run by Steve Buscemi unites superstar athletes from across sports enjoying some bowling in their off time: tennis great Serena Williams, former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning, the NBA’s Miami Heat all-star forward Jimmy Butler, WNBA star Nneka Ogwumike, top golfer Brooks Koepka and U.S. women’s soccer star Alex Morgan enjoying some bowling and Michelob Ultra in their off time. 

LAY’S CHIPS 

Paul Rudd and Seth Rogen were seen in the commercial for Lay’s potato chips. 

Rudd, 52, and Rogen, 39, reminisced comedically on the ‘good times’ they’ve had over a packet of Lay’s – including being kidnapped by a stalker and Rogen’s marriage to a creepy ghost. 

Rogen is wearing a paperboy cap and tie-dyed shirt while Rudd is donning a black beret and white top.

The actors have past been in a number of films together, including Anchorman, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, This is the End and Sausage Party.

The commercial was the first one for Lays in 17 years. 

JURASSIC WORLDS: DOMINION 

Universal Pictures showcased the new trailer for Jurassic World: Dominion on during the game.

The film is due out in June and saw all the old cast get back together.  

AMAZON 

Other advertisers are future forward too. Amazon‘s spot shows real-life spouses living in a world where Amazon’s digital assistant Alexa can read your mind. 

Married celebs Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost, who is the actresses third husband, appeared in an ad for Alexa in which they imagine what would happen if the virtual assistant could read their thoughts.  

The married couple appeared onscreen to dodge a mind-reading Alexa device in a new Super Bowl commercial.

Johansson, 37,  and Jost, 39,  put their normal game-day routine at home into action with the help of the Amazon device – a virtual personal assistant that plays music, tells the weather, delivers news and sports.

In the ad, the couple is initially in awe of Alexa´s functionalities, but then imagines a world where Alexa reads their thoughts on a daily basis.

The commercial attempts to take a comical approach on the situation, which Jost believes every couple would ‘relate to on some level.’

The Black Widow actor and Saturday Night Live star – who married in 2020 – called their first time working together since they united on the late-night sketch series an enjoyable experience.

 AMAZON PRIME VIDEO 

Amazon also shelled out for another minute of airtime to tout the company’s new prequel to the Lord of the Rings’ series, called The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The upcoming series debuts on Prime Video on September 2.

The Rings of Power is set in the Second Age of Middle Earth, thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’ and The Lord of the Rings.

Amazon first announced that it had acquired the rights to adapt Tolkien’s work in 2017 with the tech giant spending a reported $465 million the first season, in addition to a reported $250 million for the rights alone.

SAM ADAMS  

Your Cousin From Boston, meet Your Robot From Boston: Boston Beer Co. ran a Sam Adams Super Bowl commercial during the big game.

It ad featured Spot, a dog-like robot from Boston Dynamics together with its regular star, ‘Your Cousin From Boston.’ 

KIA  

Kia returned to the Super Bowl with a 60-second commercial that featured a robotic dog who was looking for an owner who drove the carmaker’s new all-electric Kia EV6.

Bud Light NEXT

A new zero-carb Bud Light brand expansion, showcased an NFT in its ad. And Facebook gave a glimpse of its vision of the metaverse in a humorous ad that shows a discarded animatronic dog meeting up with his pals again in the metaverse.

Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, will pitch its Quest 2 virtual reality headset. The commercial shows an animatronic singing dog that has faded from popularity but finds a new and exciting life in the metaverse. 

Among the 30 new advertisers were several cryptocurrency exchanges. 

Advocates of the blockchain-based digital currencies that have captured the interest of investors and financial service firms alike, want to lure regular Americans too.  

While the Super Bowl can be a good place to launch a new brand or category into the public consciousness, there are risks of getting lost in the shuffle as first-time advertisers. And they have a big task with 30 seconds.

Nostalgia is always a safe bet to win over viewers, and this year´s Super Bowl is no different.

VERIZON 

Verizon brought back Jim Carrey to reprise his loathsome 1996 Cable Guy character for their ad.

The spot featured the Dumb & Dumber star in his uniform as he tightened his belt, assembled his drill, flipped a wrench, patted down the row of pens in his pocket, and ran a lint roller over his name patch, which read ‘The Cable OG’. 

In the film, Jim played the titular role of a quirky cable installer who has a habit of stalking his customers. 

The 60-year-old actor was seen putting on his gear as he reprises his role from the black-comedy. 

GM 

General Motors nlisted Mike Myers for an ‘Austin Powers’-themed ad that features a reprise of his role as Austin Powers´ nemesis, Dr. Evil. Sidekicks played by Rob Lowe, Seth Green and Mindy Sterling also join.  

Myers, now 58, played multiple characters in the Austin Powers movies, including the titular role and his bald nemesis.

Mike stars in the ad as Dr. Evil himself, while Mindy plays his loyal henchwoman Frau Farbissina and Seth plays their son Scott.

The trio are holding a summit at the top of a skyscraper with Rob’s character Number Two, who cuts a dapper figure in a suit and eyepatch.

Dr Evil gleefully announces he just seized control of General Motors, putting his pinky up to the side of his mouth in a move instantly recognizable to fans.

Meanwhile his co-conspirators are trying to sell him on the idea of an emissions-reducing program – i.e. General Motors’ Ultium EV Platform.

Scott, who is holding a baby in a sling, begs his father to consider the idea ‘for my son,’ whom Dr Evil decides to call ‘Baby Me.’

The joke was a nod to Dr Evil’s longtime henchman in the movies Mini-Me, played by Verne Troyer, who tragically committed suicide by alcohol poisoning in 2018. 

Meanwhile in the ad Scott insists that the baby’s name is Kyle, prompting Dr Evil to reach for a button that will presumably neutralize him.

Frau Farbissina has to repeatedly swat Dr Evil’s hand away from the button, letting out a schoolmarm shriek to warn him off.

‘You must help save the world first, then you can take over the world!’ she says – only for Dr. Evil to repeat the sentiment nearly verbatim as if it were his own idea.

When Scott tries to point out he swiped the idea from Frau Farbissina, Dr. Evil begins taunting him, bringing him to the verge of tears.

Although Scott insists that Dr. Evil is ‘acting like a child’ and ‘can’t push my buttons anymore,’ his father continues hamming about and clearly gets under his skin.

Frau Farbissina bellows at him: ‘We will reduce our carbon footprint!’ and Dr. Evil finally agrees to go ‘all electric.’

As the rest of the characters scamper towards a fleet of waiting electric vehicles, Scott cheerfully bounds up behind them with the baby.

‘Not you, Scott,’ Dr. Evil sneers, leaving his son crestfallen as the villain says to the infant: ‘Bye bye, Baby Me.’

Only then does the audience see just how closely baby Kyle resembles his grandfather – even putting his pinky to his lips. 

HELLMANN’S 

A Hellmann’s ad shows former New England Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo tackling unsuspecting people who waste food. The ad is an homage to a 2003 Reebok Super Bowl ad starring a fictional linebacker named Terry Tate who tackled office workers who weren’t being productive. 

The hilarious ad sees Mayo, 35, fighting food waste by tackling people who on the verge of throwing out their leftovers.

Mayo was on the brink of taking down Pete’s mother, but ended up pouncing on Pete, 28, instead. 

As Mayo ran into the party, preparing to tackle Pete’s mother, the SNL star stops the football vet and informs him his mother has already been doing her part to stop the issue.

‘Mom’s already tackling food waste, Mayo,’ Pete tells the football player.

As Mayo walks away, Pete says in a hushed voice to his mother, ‘Big guy,’ before flexing his muscles.

Less than a second later, Mayo returns and slams Pete to the floor.

‘Sorry man, had to,’ Mayo tells Pete.

‘I get it, I’m very hittable,’ Pete said before briefly groaning.

Pete’s mother was spared from a tackle but not every one was so lucky in the ad.

Mayo took down a man preparing to throw out his bread, a woman on crutches about to toss out her food, and an elderly woman going through her fridge.  

‘Grandma!’ Mayo shouts as he tackled her to the floor  

Mayo even chased down another man with some leftover vegetables to toss out.

‘Don’t throw away that spinach!’ Mayo shouted just before tackling him through a glass door and onto the floor.

‘Make a frittata,’ he hissed in his ear.

UBER EATS

Uber Eats wanted to get across the message that you can order household items and other sundries from its delivery service, not just food. So its ad shows celebrities and other actors trying to eat everything from cat litter to diapers. 

‘If it was delivered by Uber Eats, does that mean I can `Eats´ it?’ White Lotus actor Jennifer Coolidge asks. Gwyneth Paltrow tries to eat a candle, Trevor Noah tries to eat a light bulb and Nicholas Braun from ‘Succession’ tries to eat dish soap.

PLANET FITNESS 

Planet Fitness’ ad has narration by William Shatner and shows Lindsay Lohan working out, winning Jeopardy against Dennis Rodman and bedazzling Danny Trejo´s ankle bracelet.

Lindsay Lohan’s had a little fun at her own expense with jokes about her multiple DUI arrests and hard partying ways in a teaser for her upcoming Super Bowl commercial for Planet Fitness.

The Mean Girls star appeared in the funny and self-deprecating exercise spot alongside Shatner, Danny Trejo, Dennis Rodman and Jeopardy winner Buzzy Cohen.

‘What’s gotten into Lindsay?’ asks a room of gym goers while the actress pedals away on a stationary bike.

‘She’s never been sharper,’ says Shatner in a voiceover before cutting to Lohan on a celebrity Jeopardy episode where she beats Dennis Rodman to a correct answer about himself.

Jeopardy Tournament of Champions winner Buzzy Cohen served as Lindsay and Dennis’ other contestant.

‘She’s sleeping better than ever,’ Shatner continues. ‘Which the paparazzi aren’t thrilled about.’

Cut to the outside of a night club with a gaggle of photographers, hysterically crying and wishing for the old Lindsay to return.

‘She’s even more productive,’ says Shatner, ‘trading DUIs for DIY.’ The redheaded star is seen bedazzling an ankle monitor on Danny Trejo with rhinestones in his initials ‘DT.’ 

To answer the initial question posed at the start of the clip, it’s not has gotten into Lindsay, rather, it is what she has gotten into – which is a new work out routine at Planet Fitness.

ROCKET MORTGAGE 

Anna Kendrick teamed up with Barbie herself in the full Super Bowl commercial for Rocket Homes and Rocket Mortgage. 

In an ad for Rocket Mortgage, Anna Kendrick tells kids about the competitive housing market by using examples of classic kid toys like Barbie´s Dream House and Skeletor’s Castle Grayskull.

NISSAN 

In Nissan’s ad, a straight-laced Eugene Levy is transformed into an action hero by taking a drive in a 2023 Nissan Z sports car, alongside stars Danai Gurira and Dave Bautista.

 Levy’s ‘Schitt´s Creek co-star Catherine O´Hara appears in Nissan´s new Ariya electric car.

CRYPTOCURRENCY 

Some are calling this year’s NFL championship game the Crypto Bowl – because so many of the event’s commercials will be shilling cryptocurrency.

Online exchange FTX will run ads with former Tampa Bay Quarterback Tom Brady and his supermodel wife, Gisele Bundchen, featuring New York Jets superfan Fireman Ed.

The pair are known to have taken an equity stake earlier this year in cryptocurrency exchange platform FTX and starred in a campaign for the brand — marking their first commercial appearance together. 

Canada‘s cryptocurrency exchange BitBuy hired NBA star Kyle Lowery to help move its product.

And Crypto.com cast Matt Damon to provide a re-born ultimatum for the viewers to choose their digital currency site. 

Coinbase’s ad just showed a QR code that changed colors while electronic music played. The QR code led to Coinbase’s web site which then crashed due to the sheer demand.

AVOCADOS FROM MEXICO 

In a moment of terrible timing, Avocados from Mexico aired an ad that showed Julius Caesar and a rough bunch of gladiator fans outside what appears to be the Colosseum, enjoying guacamole and avocados. But the ad came after news that the U.S. government has suspended all imports of Mexican avocados after a U.S. plant safety inspector in Mexico received a threat.

The association did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ban, which hits an industry with almost $3 billion in annual exports.

Canned cocktail brand Cutwater Spirits harkened back to an iconic 1997 Apple campaign, ‘Here´s to the Crazy Ones,’ with a twist. The black-and-white ad that honors its drinkers with the salute, ‘Here´s to the Lazy Ones.’ 

BUDWEISER 

The Budweiser brand, absent last year, returns with a spot centered on one of its Clydesdale mascots. 

After it’s injured by jumping a barbed wire fence – a not-so-subtle reference to the U.S. and the coronavirus pandemic – another Budweiser mascot, a Labrador, a stableman, and a vet help the Clydesdale recover and gallop again. 

Budweiser said they wanted to return to the broadcast ‘with a message of strength and resilience,’ said Daniel Blake, group vice president at Anheuser-Busch.

GOOGLE 

Google’s ad for the Pixel 6 stars the singer Lizzo and focuses on how the phone’s camera highlights darker skin tones. 

TOYOTA 

Toyota‘s ad, which debuted during the Olympics but which also ran during the Super Bowl, tells the story of the McKeever Brothers, cross-country skiers who have won 10 Paralympic medals together.

 PRINGLES

A man gets his hand stuck in a Pringles can – and then has to live the rest of his life with his hand stuck in the canister in Pringles’ comedic spot.  

SQUARESPACE

Zendaya added yet another feather to her career cap: starring in a Super Bowl commercial for website design company Squarespace for their 2022 ad.

In the mermaid-inspired spot, the youngest-ever best actress Emmy winner sports an aqua dress with seashells in a beachy scene. 

Previously, Squarespace has tapped stars like Dolly Parton, Winona Ryder, and Keanu Reeves for other advertisements.

Squarespace, worth a reported $10billion, is a website building and hosting company featuring an easy-to-use interface.

 

AMAZON 

Amazon.com offered the first trailer for its much-anticipated ‘Lord of the Rings’ streaming TV series that will debut on Prime Video in September. 

FTX

FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange, enlisted Larry David of’Curb Your Enthusiasm to convey that cryptocurrency is ready for the mainstream.

SALESFORCE 

Matthew McConaughey appears floating in a spacesuit for Salesforce.

Salesforce pokes fun at tech ambitions of going to space and conquering the metaverse. 

In an ad starring Matthew McConaughey that debuted during the Olympics but also aired during the big game, McConaughey floats around the globe in a hot air balloon and thinks space ambitions are ‘eh.’ ‘It´s not time to escape, it´s time to engage’ on Earth, he urges.

After some self-serious narration from him about ‘the new frontier,’ the actor shrugs and the camera pulls back to reveal he’s standing in a hot air balloon that’s improbably soaring through space.

Suddenly, the action cuts to a San Francisco skyline, where his balloon more comfortably floats over the skyscrapers.  

‘It’s not time to escape. It’s time to engage,’ he says via narration. ‘It’s time to plant more trees. It’s time to build more trust. It’s time to make more space for all of us. So while the others look to the metaverse and Mars, let’s stay here and restore ours,’ he says as farmers are seen hard at work in a field.

‘Yeah, it’s time to blaze our trail. ‘Cause the new frontier? It ain’t rocket science. It’s right here.’

McConaughey concludes his ad by getting out of his balloon and letting go of the rope tethering it to Earth. 

BOOKING.COM 

Booking.com saw Idris Elba fronting their advert.

The Luther actor explains while the name Booking.com isn’t flashy, the company is good at helping people book travel.   

Expedia employed Scottish actor Ewen McGregor walks by the sets of famous ads of years past, telling viewers why the experience of travel will always be more worthwhile than spending money on ‘stuff.’

Toyota enlisted three famous ‘Joneses’ — Leslie Jones, Tommy Lee Jones and Rashida Jones in its ad for the 2022 Tundra.  At the end, Nick Jonas joins the trio.

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2

The football-themed commercial for an upcoming sequel to the family film starts with a coin toss: heads or capital-T Tails. ‘See what we did there?’ says Sonic, voiced by Ben Schwarz.

Video game voice actor Colleen O’Shaughnessey as the two-tailed fox, and Idris Elba as Knuckles can be heard

CUTWATER COCKTAILS 

Its 2022 tongue-in-cheek take on ‘the lazy ones’, the ad was aimed at couch potatoes watching the big game.

Cutwater ads were inspired by Apple’s Think different spots, which started with the line ‘Here’s to the crazy ones.’

Cutwater Spirits is known for its selection of pre-mixed, colorfully canned cocktails and has offerings including tequila, vodka, rum, gin, whiskey and liqueur. The company was purchased in 2019 by Anheuser-Busch.

It’s the second year the company has run an ad during the big game. 

VROOM

‘Instead of getting bailed on by another flakey buyer, sell your car entirely online on Vroom.com, and we’ll come pick it up,’ the advert details.

In a musical-style clip, similar to the musical La La Land, dancers can be seen serenading a woman as she sells her car only to have them not show up for the sale. 

The ad was shot in downtown LA with 47 actors under the supervision of La La Land choreographer Mandy Moore.

QUICKBOOKS 

DJ Khaled shows customers how small business can ‘win’ like his in a new Super Bowl commercial for QuickBooks. 

DJ Khaled, 46, can be seen ready to bring entrepreneurial success to the average customer’s small business in a 30 second commercial.  

The ad has snippets from Khaled’s classic hit ‘All I Do Is Win’ play different small business owners including a bartender and baker, navigate organizing and managing their businesses. 

The music suddenly changes when each owner notices huge stacks of papers and receipts lying around. Enter Quickbooks! 

TACO BELL 

The commercial shows American rapper, Doja Cat and her friends, escaping clown college to go find what Taco Bell’s tagline ‘Live más’ means to them. 

SAM’S CLUB

Kevin Hart appeared for Sam’s Club as he went about the store making sure everyone knew he was a ‘VIP’. 

In the ad, Hart  shows off the ‘Scan & Go’ Sam’s Club app that allows customers to scan the barcodes of items in the store, and pay for it without having to wait in a checkout line, which Hart claims is for everyone else in the store.

He walks around talking up all of what makes him a VIP with the perks of a stung double and a VIP lounge. 

Sam’s Club employees look on saying he’s ‘doing it again.’