This year, during Super Bowl LX, we’re going to see three actors reprising their roles from the best dinosaur movie ever made (and one of the best adventure films overall). But when we see that trio, who we’ll get to later in the list, it will be far from the first time we’ve seen actors once more inhabiting their most iconic roles for the sake of selling a product or experience. It’s actually become quite the trend over the past decade or so, kicking off with Matthew Broderick once more playing Ferris Bueller in a 2012 ad for Honda, in which he calls in sick so he can skip filming, well, a Honda ad, at which point he recreates scenes from John Hughes’ classic.
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The ads are typically in that comedic tone, playing on a film’s events while simultaneously incorporating a product of some type. It’s a great way to get someone’s interest, as a familiar face (in a familiar role) is a fine way to make the audience feel comfortable.
7) Cher from Clueless
Clueless‘ Alicia Silverstone revived her mastery of “Valleyspeak” in a 2023 commercial for Rakuten, a cash-back and shopping rewards company. She even brought along her plaid yellow blazer.
In the ad, Silverstone’s Cher Horowitz (alongside Elisa Donovan’s Amber) tells a classroom of initially uninterested students about how they can save money on Rakuten, which wakes them up. The ad’s highlights include seeing Cher wear all of her outfits from the film and spout out treasured phrases such as “Butt crazy” and “As if!”
6) Phil Connors from Groundhog Day
A memorable addition to Super Bowl LIV’s commercial line-up, this 2020 Jeep ad featured Bill Murray returning to the role of the grumpy Phil Connors from Groundhog Day. But he wasn’t alone, as Stephen Tobolowsky once again played the annoying Ned Ryerson, Brian Doyle-Murray once more wore the stovepipe hat as Buster Green.
This version of the time loop movie has Phil really enjoying himself. He keeps taking the same orange Jeep Wrangler Rubicon out for wintry joy rides and even puts little Punxsutawney Phil in a chest-mounted baby carrier so they can go skiing together.
5) Crocodile Dundee
In 2018, Tourism Australia put out an ad featuring Danny McBride as Brian Dundee, the son of Crocodile Dundee. He’s escorted around by Chris Hemsworth, who shows off the country’s beaches, fine wines, and top restaurants.
It’s structured to look like a trailer for a movie, and it has the production values to back that up, but then Brian catches on that it’s a tourism ad. And, towards the end of that ad, Paul Hogan himself pops up in his Dundee garb.
4) Dr. Evil, Scott Evil, and Frau Farbissina
In 2022, General Motors got some of the Austin Powers gang back together for a 60-second ad. Joining Mike Myers (as Dr. Evil) was Rob Lowe as Number Two (which he played in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me), Seth Green as Scott Evil, and Mindy Sterling as Frau Farbissina, whose scream can startle a room like no other.
In the ad, the evil crew has taken over GM. Number Two and Scott try to convince Dr. Evil to reduce harmful emissions. As Frau says, he has to save the world before he can take it over. A classic father-son bickering session ensues. We also learn that Dr. Evil is a grandfather, so the commercial actually manages to advance the trilogy’s narrative as well.
3) “The Dude” and Carrie Bradshaw
The 2019 Stella Artois ad, “Change Up the Usual,” featured two actors once again playing their most beloved characters. Sarah Jessica Parker played Carrie Bradshaw (Sex and the City is primarily a TV IP, but don’t forget there were two movies, as well) while Jeff Bridges steps into the slippers of “The Dude” from The Big Lebowski.
Both of them order a Stella instead of their typical drink choice, a Cosmopolitan for Carrie and a White Russian for “Dude,” which makes the whole restaurant raise an eyebrow. The ad was part of the “Pour It Forward” initiative, which sought to help provide clean water for those in developing countries.
2) Harry Burns and Sally Albright
Amongst the late Rob Reiner‘s many accomplishments is having directed the best romantic comedy ever made. That would be When Harry Met Sally… starring Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, the late Bruno Kirby, and the late Carrie Fisher.
Ryan and Crystal reteamed for a Hellmann’s mayonnaise ad during last year’s game. In it, Ryan recreates her famous diner sequence from the film, with everything capped off by Sydney Sweeney stepping in with the iconic “I’ll have what she’s having.”
1) Dr. Alan Grant, Dr. Ellie Sattler, and Dr. Ian Malcolm
Xfinity released a heart warmer during the 2019 holiday season when they debuted their E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Holiday Reunion commercial featuring Henry Thomas reprising the role of Elliott Taylor (and E.T. coming back to Earth to once again play himself). In a similar vein the company is bringing back some cast members from another Steven Spielberg classic: Jurassic Park.
The ad features Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum recreating some of the film’s most iconic scenes intercut with stock footage featuring the late Richard Attenborough and Samuel L. Jackson. The central premise is that the outage caused by Dennis Nedry would be easily solved with Xfinity. What follows is the trio of protagonists actually enjoying Jurassic Park, including Neill taking a selfie with a T. rex.
Which was your favorite of these ads? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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