This year’s glut of Super Bowl advertising has seen what feels like a higher-than-average number of celebrities using their beloved characters and personas to shill for chips. (Jeff Bridges, please do not make us take your Dude privileges away.) Hell, even Tom Hanks—the one man in America capable of being cast as Mr. Rogers, and having the rest of us just kind of nod and go, “Yeah, okay”—is getting in the game, lending his primordial father figure voice to a commercial scheduled to run during the Very Large Game.
But don’t despair, Hanks fans: The All-Dad isn’t telling you to buy a Honda or guzzle down Stella Artois. (Bridges, we fuckin’ swear…) Instead, he’ll be voicing an ad for The Washington Post, which is attempting to counter both prevailing anti-media sentiments blowing forth from the rotting Halloween pumpkin currently sitting in the White House, and falling newspaper revenues in general, by making an ad buy at this year’s game. The description of the video itself sounds like classic Hanks bait: Some World War II footage, a Gumpian overview of 20th and 21st century events, and a reminder of all the journalists who have died over the years bringing people the truth. We can even imagine Hanks doing this thing on the cheap, especially if The Post was willing to let a few old vintage typewriters “fall off a desk” or two and into his famous collection.
The 60-second spot will run tomorrow, during the fourth quarter of the game.