How enduring is the pop-culture grasp of "MacGyver," ABC's 1985-1992 adventure series starring an ingenious Richard Dean Anderson?
Three years after MasterCard used a send-up of "MacGyver" in Super Bowl XL, Pepsi did the same for Super Bowl XLIII. This time the brand and agency Arnell had Will Forte's "Saturday Night Live" character "MacGruber" to draw on.
"Pepsuber" sees Forte and Kristen Wiig reprise their roles from "SNL," accompanied by Anderson, presumably reprising his original role despite no mention of any "MacGyver," and a winking Pepsi product placement.
"MacGruber" would continue to carry the "MacGyver" mantle for the immediate future, yielding a feature film in 2010. But "MacGyver" would make a comeback of its own, with Lionsglate plunging into a movie and CBS firing up a TV reboot.
Director: Jorma Taccone, then a writer on "SNL" and a member of the sketch comedy group Lonely Island along with Andy Samberg and Akiva Schaffer.
BRAND: Pepsi
YEAR: 2009
AGENCY: Arnell Group
SUPERBOWL: XLII
QUARTER AIRED: Q3