This year’s Super Bowl ads showed a lot of movie images, as well as colorful car commercials. But, what was memorable was the first ever live commercial. How appropriate for the first time ever overtime in a Super Bowl game. This groundbreaking, live commercial was for Snicker’s, starring Star Wars: The Force Awakens ‘ own Kylo Ren, Adam Driver .
Spent my #Superbowl Sunday shooting a live commercial in the Old West. #Snickers #AdamDriver #Commercial pic.twitter.com/JFrmqqKU5l
— Jennifer Marsala (@jennmarsala) February 6, 2017
In the commercial, a bearded Driver misses his cues and soon, everything around him falls apart. Looks like there is a lot of opportunity for mistakes! While the commercial looked like it all went perfectly, Driver had to be on his toes to do something as risky as a live commercial.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMMB6XemX5o
Before the Super Bowl, Driver spoke to People about the commercial and why he took it on. He told them that he always felt that their commercials were “hysterical” and wanted to take on this sort of challenge. The magazine hinted that perhaps he thrived on being scared. The Girls actor admitted that he felt that being scared was good for his craft.
“Well, I mean I definitely like being scared. I don’t know that I necessarily thrive, but doing something that scares you is always a good thing to do.”
Exclusive Portraits of Adam Driver for the Hollywood Reporter pic.twitter.com/jeeX25EenU
— Adam Driver Amazing (@DriverAmazing) February 1, 2017
Driver further expounded on the idea of doing live shows like theater, or even Saturday Night Live , which he hosted a year ago. The lack of a safety net really appeals to the actor. There is danger for the actor because it is live, but there is a dangerous excitement for the audience as well. What sorts of surprises could unexpectedly happen when you perform live? He seemed quite grateful that he got this opportunity to do something as unusual as a live com
“I’ve always been interested in live things, basically going back to theater — the potential threat of it not going right, or that it’s just kind of more dangerous. It’s live and people know it. I think that just adds a level of excitement and challenge that makes it feel more alive. There’s no safety net at all and I think that’s always kind of a fascinating thing to be a part of and an interesting thing to watch. And, to do it on such a broad scale at the Super Bowl, the stakes couldn’t be higher — I mean, as far as stakes compared to open heart surgery. Those stakes are pretty high, but I guess in the commercial world and as an actor, you always kind of hope for things that come along that are very different. Who would’ve thought I would get this opportunity to be in a Super Bowl commercial? That’s not something I had on my agenda to do.”
Adam Driver Stars in the First-Ever Live Super Bowl Commercial for Snickers – Watch https://t.co/RYAnFu6iM2 pic.twitter.com/m97ict5RBe
— IndieWire (@IndieWire) February 6, 2017
Could Saturday Night Live be comparable to this live commercial? Driver thinks so. Because so much changes into the last second, there is not a lot of time to overthink things. Sounds like there is no way to ruin a live performance.
“But, yeah, I would say SNL is the closest thing to compare it to because you’re making changes all the way up to the minute — well, in my case, you’re making changes to the monologue or the skits or scenes that you maybe get to do once, so it doesn’t really leave you room to be precious or hold back or play it safe. You kind of just have to go with it and not overthink it all. I’ll overthink the way I eat a sandwich, is my habit. But with this, you have no time but just to react, which is always kind of good.”
https://twitter.com/SNICKERS/status/828436877300477952
What is the irony of this live performance is the punchline of the commercial. This is exactly what Adam Driver did not want to do when filming the commercial. And despite looking like a klutz, he was actually doing the job right: looking like a klutz on live television.
“You ruin Super Bowl commercials when you’re hungry.”
With horses and buildings falling, there was a lot of opportunity for failure, yet it was executed perfectly. Could this mean that next year there could be more live Super Bowl commercials?
What did you think of the Super Bowl Snickers Ad? Did you find that the live Adam Driver ad was unique?
[Featured Image by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for NBC]
