The theme for Super Bowl commercials this year appears to be "just weird," as Game of Thrones' Peter Dinklage and the iconic Morgan Freeman join Human M&M Danny DeVito in the realm of celebrities engaging in strange high-dollar marketing. Watch Dinklage rap about Doritos and Morgan rap about Mountain Dew in a Super Bowl ad that will probably go down as one of the most talked-about commercials after the big game:
If Peter Dinklage lip-syncing to Busta Rhymes' verse in "Look At Me Now" is a sign of what 2018 is going to be like as a whole, we're in for a treat. Additionally, who would've ever guessed that Oscar winner Morgan Freeman - who noted to THR that the ad paid well -- would ever be in an ad for Mountain Dew while getting all up in the camera while singing "Get Ur Freak On" by Missy Elliott? The ad is great, and the cameos by the original singers are a nice touch, but with an entire ad revolving around Doritos Blaze and Mountain Dew Ice, did PepsiCo miss an amazing opportunity for a Game of Thrones "ice and fire" reference?
Morgan Freeman is as great as ever hear, but what if he was replaced by actress Lena Headey? The all-around star power isn't as great, but having Tyrion and Cersei Lannister in an ad that focuses on fire and ice would've been a perfect and relatively subtle Game of Thrones nod that would've driven fans of the show crazy. Everybody needs to see Morgan Freeman lip synching to Missy Elliott once in their lives, true, but can anyone dispute just how much more epic this advertisement would've been be with two major stars from Game of Thrones having a lip-sync battle?
TV-related critiques aside, Doritos and Mountain Dew produced a memorable Super Bowl spot that's totally in line with some of the other ads we've seen so far for this year's mega-lucrative ad breaks. One interesting bit of the commercial folks might have missed is that while Morgan Freeman actually does the voiceover for the Mountain Dew Ice section, it's Busta Rhymes supplying the voiceover for Doritos Blaze. Perhaps there's a clause in Peter Dinklage's contract where his price goes up if he has to talk at a normal speed during an ad? Dinklage didn't have any problem speaking for the teaser portion of the spot, which went up online just days before the full commercial:
Doritos and Mountain Dew are no strangers to crazy and humorous Super Bowl ads. Mountain Dew's "puppy-monkey-baby" spot is still referenced by forever-horrified folks, and Doritos' past fan-made ad contests led to some truly inventive advertising. This year's collaborative advertisement will be the first time PepsiCo will air two of its trademark products back to back during the Super Bowl, which hopefully saved the companies a bit of scratch, considering all the star power they pulled for just this one ad!
Peter Dinklage and Morgan Freeman's ad will air on NBC during the Super Bowl, which airs on Sunday, February 4 at 6:30 p.m. ET. For a look at shows that will be premiering around that time, or throughout the rest of 2018, visit our midseason premiere guide.
