Facebook to air its first Super Bowl commercial starring Sylvester Stallone
'Rocky' footprints mark the spot made famous by Sylvester Stallone at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Facebook is producing its first Super Bowl ad featuring Sylvester Stallone recreating his "Rocky" run up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Modern Art.
Chris Rock will also make an appearance in the 60-second commercial, which was produced with Wieden & Kennedy.
Stallone posted a cryptic video on Instagram on Tuesday, showing off some behind-the-scenes footage of dozens of fans running with him on the steps of the museum. Stallone, of course, made the Philadelphia Museum famous in his "Rocky" movies, when his character trained by running up the outer steps. Local Philadelphia news stations picked up Stallone's Instagram post, which only disclosed that he was shooting a Super Bowl ad without naming the brand.
According to Facebook, the directors on the spot are Megaforce, a French collective known for visually arresting work such as Lacoste’s “Life Is a Beautiful Sport” from BETC as well as Nike’s “Nothing Beats a Londoner” and Delta’s “Runways,” both created out of Wieden & Kennedy.
It was unclear if Facebook was ready to make its Super Bowl plans public, but Stallone later mentioned the company in a tweet saying: "It was fantastic working with @chrisrock. We got along great. Admire his wit... @Facebook did a great job producing, and it is going to be amazingly entertaining at #SuperBowlLIV."
It was fantastic working with @chrisrock. We got along great. Admire his wit... @Facebook did a great job producing, and it is going to be amazingly entertaining at #SuperBowlLIV. pic.twitter.com/F7iN2lgIdp
— Sylvester Stallone (@TheSlyStallone) December 18, 2019
Facebook responded to the star on Wednesday in a tweet: "You rocked the cat out of the bag."
Facebook later said that the Super Bowl ad would promote Groups, the niche private communities. It's an extension of an ad campaign called "More Together," which Facebook has been running since May and was the first major marketing campaign launched under CMO Antonio Lucio, who joined Facebook in late 2018.
Facebook has been promoting Groups as a core aspect of the platform's future. Groups can provide people a more intimate social network bound together by shared interests. Wieden & Kennedy, Freuds and Facebook’s internal team, Creative X, developed the marketing plan and creative strategy behind the "More Together" campaign.
"The spot drives home the message that for whatever you rock, there is a Facebook group for you," a Facebook spokeswoman said in an statement.
