The star of Taco Bell's upcoming Super Bowl spot certainly has "lived más"—for 87 years and counting.
The fast-food chain on Friday released "Grandpa Goes Wild," a 54-second teaser for its big-game spot, introducing its main character, octogenarian Bernie Goldblatt, who appears as exceedingly young at heart as the company's burrito-eating clientele.
Riding a souped-up motorized mobility scooter into an empty football stadium at night, Bernie grins at the possibilities—then proceeds to trash the place by doing donuts on the field and knocking over water coolers, yardage markers and a tackling dummy. Not since the old Six Flags spokesman Mr. Six has an elderly man (well, his stunt double) shown such verve in a commercial. And Taco Bell promises he's got "something even wilder up his old-man sleeve for Game Day."
Indeed, the Goldblatt character will also be the star of "Viva Young," Taco Bell's 60-second Super Bowl spot, set to air during the third quarter of the Feb. 3 game. That spot will feature a reworked version of the fun. song "We Are Young," sung in Spanish.
Deutsch/LA created both the teaser and the spot.
"Our hope is that our consumers will see themselves in this ad," Brian Niccol, chief marketing and innovation officer at Taco Bell Corp., said of the Super Bowl spot.
"They tell us that Taco Bell is about memories and experiences, and things they like to share with their friends. We believe that advertising on the world's biggest stage, the Super Bowl, was the ideal way to share these experiences with our fans, while also providing further context into the mind-set of Taco Bell and what it means to 'Live más.' "
This will be Taco Bell's first Super Bowl commercial since 2010.
UPDATE: Looks like Bernie's been tweeting since before Christmas.