Schwimmer pushes Skittles for Super Bowl

David Schwimmer for Skittles

Last week, Mars Wrigley Confectionary brand, Skittles, announced that it would create the most exclusive Super Bowl ad ever, and would only screen it to only one person, and that person happens to be Marcos Menendez a teenager from Canoga Park, California.

According to an agency spokeswoman, Menendez is a real teenager, not a paid actor. Skittles wanted to find a real fan of the brand who would be excited to be involved.

And the teen will have the honor of viewing an exclusive Skittles spot that stars Friend’s resident weirdo Ross (aka David Schwimmer.)

The brand, which has been utilizing social media more and more, posted the announcement on Twitter.

Get ready for the epic Skittles Super Bowl ad that only @magikmarcos gets to watch! #SBLII pic.twitter.com/zSaBit5S18

— Skittles (@Skittles) January 16, 2018

Schwimmer is making his Super Bowl ad debut in the exclusive spot. And while no one will ever see the final ad (except Marcos, of course), the brand has released four 15-second super bizarre teaser videos that share a glimpse of what the actual ad might be.

The teasers, created by the DDB Creative Director team of Nathaniel Lawlor and Ruth Bellotti and directed by Steve Ayer of MJZ, are each bonkers in their own way, yet very much in line with the Skittles brand, which face it, is bizarre. For instance, here is Schwimmer interacting with an animatronic sandwich.

In another strange teaser, operative word here being strange, Schwimmer channels Netflix’s Stranger Things. Trust me, This clip is even weirder than Ross starting to like his cousin.

And if you’ve ever wondered what Schwimmer would look like with long brown hair and sitting on a dummy bear while sitting on a ventriloquist’s lap in a waiting room, here’s your answer.

And whoa, David Schwimmer finds himself adrift in the cold vacuum of space and doesn’t seem to mind in this possible scene from the Skittles Super Bowl ad that only one person will ever see.

It’s been 23 years since David Schwimmer starred in a TV commercial. “I just thought it was really funny and inherently subversive,” said Schwimmer in an Ad Age article. He also explained the Skittles’ ads appeal to his own sense of humor and also is said to have been intrigued by the idea of showing a Super Bowl-worthy commercial to a single person.

Not even the star knows which of the characters will ultimately be shown to Menendez. “Not only do I not know, I’m not even going to see it,” says Schwimmer, who says he may try to convince someone to show him a cut of the chosen spot.

Schwimmer joked to Ad Age that he came up with backstories for the project. “We have a long history, that sandwich and I,” says Schwimmer, referring to a prop seen in one teaser. “It’s a companion and possibly and ex-lover. It’s not revealed, exactly.”

The stunt follows three consecutive Super Bowl appearances for Skittles. “We’ve been a big part of the Super Bowl and continue to be a big part of the NFL,” Montei says of Skittles. “We really felt like we wanted to continue to reinvent ourselves around this timeframe and one way to do it is to just try a completely new way in.”

These spots are really a lot of fun. And so, so weird. But hey, that’s Skittles.

 
CREDITS
Creative Agency – DDB
   Ari Weiss – Chief Creative Officer, North America
   Colin Selikow – Executive Creative Director
   Nathaniel Lawlor – Creative Director (Copywriter)
   Ruth Bellotti – Creative Director (Art Director)
   Matt Blitz – Executive Producer
   Jason Georgen – Senior Producer
   Tim Allan – Producer
   Scott Terry – Production Business Manager
   Azher Ahmed – EVP, Director of Digital Operations
   Jim Higgins – VP, Digital Director
   Nico Nieto – Digital Director
   Josh Drueck – Group Strategy Director
   Jonathan Palmer – Strategist
   Richard Guest – Global Business Director
   Eli Velez – Global Segment Lead
   Josh Lenze – Global Brand Lead
   Erin Leahy – Global Account Director
   Katie Goold – Account Executive