Originally posted Thursday, January 31, 2019 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
Three Atlanta rap stars 2 Chainz, Lil Jon and Ludacris are appearing in three different Super Bowl ads come Sunday.
2 Chainz promotes Expensify, a way to simplify handling expenses. Lil Jon joins Cardi B and Steve Carell in an amusing Pepsi ad. And Luda makes an appearance in a Mercedes ad.
Given that the Super Bowl is in Atlanta this year may have made marketers consider local musicians more than they might have otherwise.
And celebrities, - largely in comedic roles -are the most common element of Super Bowl ads, usually in unusual combinations to generate buzz. This year includes a cavalcade of familiar faces from music (Michael Buble, Chance the Rapper, the Backstreet Boys), TV (Christina Applegate, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Adam Scott), film (Harrison Ford, Forest Whitaker) and the sports world (Tony Romo, Alex Rodriguez, Serena Williams). And two actors resurrect their iconic characters in a Stella Artois ad (Sarah Jessica Parker as "Sex in the City" star Carrie Bradshaw and Jeff Bridges as "the Dude" from "The Big Lebowski")
Actor Jason Bateman, who is now spending a good part of the year in Atlanta producing and starring in Netflix's "Ozark," is also in a new Hyundai ad playing an elevator operator.
2 Chainz gets plenty of airtime during the 30-second version that will run during the game and the extended three-minute “music video” online.
In the short version, the rapper enters car made of ice with cold shrimp on the hood and sings about “the day and life of a baller” but is interrupted by “Parks & Rec” actor Adam Scott, playing a record label finance tool. “I’m going to need paper receipts for everything in this video if you want to be reimbursed,” he said.
2Chainz is unfazed: “No. I have Expensify for that.”
“What?” Adam says.
“Skirt!” 2Chainz responds, using one of his catchphrases.
Here’s the 30-second ad:
Here’s the long-form version:
Ludacris, who is an actor and entrepreneur as well as a singer, joined a Mercedes-Benz ad in a place you wouldn’t expect him.
In the ad, whatever a man says, it happens, be it Rickie Fowler dropping a putt, an ATM “making it rain” or Wile E. Coyote riding a rocket through his living room.
At one point, he is watching an opera and bored, says, “Change the music.” The singer turns into Ludacris who starts rapping “Stand Up.”
In a Mercedes A-Class vehicle, the man is able to verbally change the temperature, the lighting and the music, which again is Ludacris.
And Pepsi gets in the act with a light tweak of Coke. When a woman in a diner asks for a Coke, the waiter says, “Is Pepsi okay?”
Steve Carell pops up and is outraged. "Are puppies okay? Is a shooting star okay? Is the laughter of a small child okay?" He adds:"Pepsi is more than okay."
Then he points to Lil Jon, who says his catchphrase “Okaaay!” Cardi B then trills “Okay!”
Later Carell tries to imitate both and after failing, mutters, “I’ve got to come up with my own catchphrase.”
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