While the actual Super Bowl game may have been — well — somewhat uneventful this year, the commercials have been top notch, in my personal opinion. Some of them have been absolutely hilarious, while others have been a little creepy and possibly somewhat unnerving (looking at you, Mint Mobile). But not all hit the WTF valley. In fact, The Washington Post's Super Bowl commercial was actually incredibly deep. If you weren't able to catch Tom Hanks' Washington Post commercial when it aired at the 2019 Super Bowl, take a moment to watch it. IMO, it's definitely worth watching.
Major newspaper and news source The Washington Post aired their first-ever Super Bowl ad at the 2019 Super Bowl, and it was a lot. The ad showed a variety of scenes from major news events ,starting all the way back from World War II and leading up to the present day. It highlighted the first lunar landing, 9/11, and the California wildfires, along with several other significant historical events. The narration, done by none other than Castaway and Forrest Gump star Tom Hanks, described the significance of journalism and the adversities — including deadly danger — that reporters and other journalists often face while reporting on major news.
The ad commemorated a number of journalists killed in the line of duty, including Marie Colvin, who was killed while reporting on the Syrian civil war in 2012; and Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi Arabian Washington Post columnist who was allegedly killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to get a marriage license in 2018. Saudi Arabian government leaders have denied involvement with his death.
The commercial lasted for a full 60 seconds, and it was incredibly powerful. Watch it for yourself in the clip, below.
One of the most memorable lines in the clip is when Hanks says: "There's someone to gather the facts. To bring you a story. No matter the cost. Because knowing empowers us. Knowing helps us decide. Knowing keeps us free." It then cuts out with the Washington Post logo, and the phrase, "Democracy dies in darkness."
Obviously, Twitter was in awe after watching this extremely meaningful commercial. Some are saying that it was their favorite ad, and others were just shocked by Hanks' delivery. Take a look at each and every reaction, below.
Wow. I seriously have no words.
Of course, it's the Super Bowl, so the WaPo ad's gravitas wasn't exactly the norm. In fact, most of the ads we saw on Super Bowl Sunday 2019 were, let's just say, a little more light-hearted. For example, Burger King's ad, which aired live during the fourth quarter of the game. It consisted of 37-year-old clips, which were shot in 1982, and starred iconic painter, photographer, and pop artist, Andy Warhol. The mostly-silent ad showed the famous artist unwrapping and opening a Whopper from Burger King. He takes a bite, dumps out some ketchup onto the wrapper. At the end, it shows the hashtag "#EatLikeAndy." It was pretty rad, especially if you're a Warhol fan like I am.
Out of all the Super Bowl ads I've watched, Washington Post's was definitely was the most memorable of them all — if for some tragic reasons. In all the drama and silliness of the Super Bowl, it's maybe not a bad thing to be reminded of what's going on in the rest of the world. At the least, it's memorable.
