In a nutshell: Nintendo was among the many major advertisers willing to shell out big bucks – reportedly around $7 million on average – for a 30-second spot during the Super Bowl. The Japanese gaming giant used the coveted air time to run a commercial-in-a-commercial for its upcoming Super Mario Bros. movie.
The half-minute ad is a "commercial" for the fictional Super Mario Bros. Plumbing. It utilizes a rendition of the Super Mario Bros. rap featured in the introduction of the live-action show The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! that ran for a single season in 1989.
The series aired on weekdays and featured "Captain" Lou Albano as Mario alongside Danny Wells as Luigi. The live-action segments usually featured a special guest, and the rest of the time was filled with an animated Super Mario Bros. story. On Fridays, viewers were treated to animated stories from The Legend of Zelda instead. In total, 65 episodes were produced with each running for approximately 20-22 minutes (plus commercials).
The Super Bowl ad points to a functional landing page – SMBPlumbing.com – and even has a working phone number, 929-55-MARIO. Some fans on the Internet seem to believe the customer in the ad is voiced by Jeannie Elias, who played Princess Toadstool in the animated series from the Super Show. The jury is still out on this one, however, so we will have to wait for official confirmation before verifying this potential Easter egg.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is due out in theaters on April 7. To date, Nintendo has dropped two full-length trailers dating back to last October. The flick features a star-studded cast of voice actors including Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogan, Fred Armisen and quite controversially, Chris Pratt as Mario.
Charles Martinet, who has voiced several Mario series characters in video games over the years, will have "surprise cameos" as well.
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