Sylvester Stallone scales Paramount Mountain for Paramount+ Super Bowl commercial

Ad is a continuation of the Paramount+ ‘Mountain of Entertainment’ campaign that debuted during 2021’s Big Game

Published On
Feb 03, 2023

Editor's Pick

A horde of celebrities is once again climbing Paramount Mountain for a starry Super Bowl spot promoting Paramount+. But this time, the mountain itself has a few words to share.

The ad features Sylvester Stallone, Dora the Explorer and Captain Pike of “Star Trek,” among others, as the streamer hopes to build on the momentum of the “Mountain of Entertainment” campaign that debuted during the 2021 Super Bowl. 

“The campaign has been a huge driver to build awareness for Paramount+,” Domenic DiMeglio, executive VP and chief marketing officer for Paramount Streaming, told Ad Age. The streamer, which launched in 2021, featured a gaggle of famous faces including Patrick Stewart, RuPaul, Lucille Ball and SpongeBob Squarepants in its Super Bowl ad two years ago. An installment of the campaign starring Keegan-Michael Key in November was Paramount+’s “most successful film to date in terms of organic viewership and fan engagement,” said DiMeglio.

The media company declined to disclose which quarter the newest spot would air during in Super Bowl LVII, but specified that a 30-second variant of the 60-second spot would run during the game.

In the 60-second version (above), the group of stars is shown mapping out the geography of Paramount Mountain when Dora notes: “This mountain has three faces. The northern face, the southern face and …”

Lieutenant Dangle of “911!” dramatically removes his sunglasses as he finishes, “The Sylvester Stallone face.”

A chorus echoes the name as the camera zooms into a gargantuan sculpture of Stallone’s head, reminiscent of Mount Rushmore. And dangling from its massive nostril is the actor himself, who currently stars in Paramount’s series “Tulsa King.”

“Hey, how you doin’?” Stallone asks the mountain. “How you doin’?” the mountain asks back. The spot, which ends with the rocky head sneezing Stallone into the distance, also features the Academy Award nominee’s three daughters, Sophia, Sistine and Scarlet.

Paramount+ credited Stallone’s “Tulsa King,” as well as its NFL content, for experiencing a record-setting number of sign-ups on Nov. 16. 

Like the 12 commercials before it, this year’s Super Bowl spot was led by agency Droga5, production company O Positive and director David Shane. DiMeglio said the multi-year collaboration has put the creatives in “lock-step in terms of what we're trying to accomplish with these spots. Ultimately, I feel like we're doing our best work together.”

As advertisers continue to face increasingly difficult economic headwinds, DiMeglio said the Super Bowl remains a consistent event worth investing in for its branding impact beyond just the game—made even more obvious in this case, considering the length of Paramount+’s “Mountain of Entertainment” campaign that originated at a Big Game.

“It’s really the amplification and the opportunity to reach over 100 million viewers at a moment and to entertain fans in what truly is a cultural moment,” DiMeglio said. “And one of the few that really brings together so many of us at a single moment in time.”

Meanwhile, Paramount Global plans to integrate Showtime programming into Paramount+. According to a Bloomberg report earlier this week, the streaming service's top tier and the company’s cable channel will be re-branded as Paramount+ with Showtime, CEO Bob Bakish wrote in a memo to staff on Monday.