It’s official: everyone’s doing a Super Bowl ad this year. Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, but we’ve already seen Chris Evans, Lil Nas X (and Sam Elliott), Martha and Snoop, Maisie Williams, Post Malone, John Cena, Busy Philipps, John Krasinski, and more. There are Chris Rock and Winona Ryder spots floating around out there as well, and now, we’ve seen everything because Martin Scorsese has made a Super Bowl commercial. Yes, the legendary filmmaker’s in on this big game, too.
The resulting Coca-Cola ad launches its new energy drink (appropriately called Coca-Cola Energy) with the help of Jonah Hill and YBN Cordae. The ad, “Show Up,” is an inventive one that shows Marty feeling awkward at a costume party, where he’s being stood up by Jonah, who’s got no energy to leave the house. It’s weird enough to see Scorsese freaking out over those awful text dots while he waits, but even stranger, this ad feels a little bit theme-park-y? That’s not only the case because of the party atmosphere but because the Super Bowl itself is mammoth-like and full of spectacle, much like a theme park. And who dislikes movies that resemble (in his words) theme parks? The Irishman director himself, Martin Scorsese.
I’m not at all suggesting that anyone was thinking about Scorsese’s distaste for Marvel Studios movies while planning this commercial. It’s only a little nerd joke. The ad aims to bring attention to the Monday morning slump after the Super Bowl. Supposedly, an estimated 17.5 million Americans might call out of work that day. Too much beer, not enough guacamole? No one can say, but Coca-Cola will partner with Amazon to hand out free samples of Coca-Cola Energy to Manhattan commuters on Monday. In addition, Amazon’s offering free samples to Alexa users who shout, “Alexa, Order Coke Energy!” (while supplies last, of course). Man, those people are gonna be so wired.
