Watch Sunday’s NFL spot that will run in the Super Bowl

NFL athletes and children recite Rev. William Holmes Borders’ powerful poem “I Am Somebody” in the league’s 2025 cause campaign, which premiered during Sunday’s Conference Championship games and will run as a shorter ad during next month’s Super Bowl. The 60-second spot that aired Sunday, created by 72andSunny Los Angeles, features real participants of Big Brothers Big Sisters, Special Olympics and InsideOut to reaffirm how sports can empower children from all walks of life. Super Bowl commercials Tracking the latest brand and agency plans Enter here In the ad, NFL players Demario Davis of the New Orleans Saints, Arik Armstead of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Adam Thielen of the Carolina Panthers ask the kids to recite the affirmation that they are somebody based on the poem. Director Savanah Leaf of Park Pictures shot the commercial in New Orleans, where the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles will play in the Super Bowl on Feb. 9. A 30-second version will run during the Super Bowl. The commercial about the power of mentorship comes at a “critical time” for youth, said Marissa Solis, senior VP of global brand and consumer marketing at the NFL. “These organizations [the NFL] partners with—Big Brothers Big Sisters, Special Olympics, InsideOut—they do such terrific job with youth,” said Solis. “We’ve got a crisis in mental health, a crisis in confidence, and it’s so important to work with young people to [offer] mentorship.” The spot was shot with real members of the organizations and is markedly minimalistic, a stray from the typical flashy marketing prevalent at the Conference Championship games and the Super Bowl. “You see these young kids saying these words of affirmation, saying that they are somebody, seeing the look on their eyes and their faces as they repeat these words back to these NFL and reaffirm their own confidence and it just felt like that would be a great way to break up what we always tend to see at the Super Bowl to make it stand out even more,” said Jason LaFlore, creative director at 72andSunny. For the director, the spot reflected her own experience. “As an Olympian and former professional athlete, I know and value the importance of mentorship and community support, as it was fundamental in my growth as an athlete,” said Leaf. “I really enjoyed being able to capture the genuine interactions between the players and the youth because I know it will have a lasting impact on the people who were involved.”

Watch Sunday’s NFL spot that will run in the Super Bowl

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