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The NFL Debuts Super Bowl XLV Commercials

NEW YORK, Feb. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Football League (NFL) today introduced two TV commercials, a :60 and :30 slated for Super Bowl XLV on Sunday, February 6, 2011 on Fox.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110203/NY42416)

"The Super Bowl has become America's appointment television from coast to coast and generation to generation," said Mark Waller, Chief Marketing Officer of the NFL. "We wanted our advertising to entertain and thank NFL fans, the best fans ever."

"American Family"

The centerpiece of the NFL advertising is a :60 commercial called "American Family" that celebrates the entertainment/pop culture phenomenon the Super Bowl has become. It features the greatest collection of television talent ever assembled, over 40 stars, living and dead, who graced nearly 20 of the most famous, popular shows of the last several decades.

Many of America's favorite stars from Alf, Beverly Hills 90210, Happy Days, The Brady Bunch, Cheers, The Dukes of Hazard, Family Matters, Full House, Seinfeld, GLEE, How I Met Your Mother, Modern Family, Family Guy, The Simpsons, The Office, Sesame Street, The Golden Girls and The Sopranos make cameos (See list of stars following).

The commercial is a montage of quick cuts as America's most beloved TV family gathers, and the anticipation builds, for the big game. The creative twist, and pay-off for the viewers, is that every scene has been contemporized with today's NFL branding . . . The Sopranos wear Jets jerseys; the Fonz taps a flat-screen TV playing Fox Sports, Norm enters Cheers with New England Patriots gear. A simple slate ends the spot with the message "Best. Fans. Ever," the NFL logo, and one more surprise. The commercial will air in the third quarter of the game.

Tor Myhren, President and Chief Creative Officer of Grey New York, said, "The Super Bowl is America's last campfire. The only event left that we watch together as a nation. We wanted to show this in a big, bold way that only the NFL could pull off."

Mark Waller continued, "This spot is the result of great work between Grey and William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, two fantastic partners of the NFL."

"Gadget"

A :30 commercial, "Gadget," features a young NFL fan effortlessly accessing the NFL content on NFL-owned media platforms across the entire year. While watching NFL Network on his flat-screen TV, he grabs it off the wall as it morphs into his tablet, where he watches coverage of the NFL Draft. From there his tablet changes into his laptop, where he visits NFL.com for Fantasy news and video highlights. Then his laptop morphs into his mobile device, where he watches NFL Network's NFL RedZone channel. The tagline "Get the NFL...anytime...anywhere with NFL.com, NFL Mobile only from Verizon and NFL Network." The commercial will air at half-time.

The new commercials, created by Grey New York, are the latest chapter in the NFL's highly successful integrated brand campaign, unifying all of its business units and properties together with one consistent message . . . "If you want the NFL, go to the NFL."

About Grey

Grey New York is the flagship and largest office of Grey, the advertising network of Grey Group. Grey Group ranks among the largest global communications companies. Its parent company is WPP (Nasdaq: WPPGY). Grey Famously Effective Since 1917 serves a blue-chip client roster of many of the world's best known companies: Procter & Gamble, GlaxoSmithKline, Diageo, Darden Restaurants, Pfizer, Canon, 3M, Eli Lilly, ETrade, NFL, Boehringer Ingelheim, J.M. Smucker and T.J. Maxx. FAST COMPANY named Grey to "The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies" list in 2010. (www.grey.com)

Stars Appearing in the NFL Super Bowl Commercial

         Program                  Talent
    Alf                                         N/A
    Beverly Hills,
     90210             Jennie Garth
                       Tori Spelling
                       Shannen Doherty
                       Gabrielle Carteris
    Happy Days         Ron Howard
                       Henry Winkler
    Brady Bunch, The   Robert Reed
                       Maureen McCormick
    Cheers             George Wendt
    Dukes of Hazzard,
     The               Tom Wopat
                       John Schneider
    Family Matters     Reginald Vel Johnson
                       Jaleel White
    Full House         John Stamos
                       Dave Coulier
    Seinfeld           Jerry Seinfeld
                       Michael Richards
                       Wayne Knight
    Friends            Courteney Cox
                       Lisa Kudrow
    GLEE               Dianna Agron
                       Kevin McHale
                       Jenna Ushkowitz
                       Cory Monteith
                       Amber Riley
                       Naya Rivera
                       Heather Morris
                       Mark Salling
    How I Met Your
     Mother            Jason Segel
                       Neil Patrick Harris
                       Alyson Hannigan
    Modern Family      Sofia Vergara
    Family Guy         Seth MacFarlane
    The Simpsons       Dan Castalanetta
    Office, The        Rainn Wilson
                       Ed Helms
                       Leslie David Baker
                       Phyllis Smith
    Sesame Street
    Golden Girls, The  Betty White
                       Rue McClanahan
    Sopranos, The      James Gandolfini
                       Michael Imperioli
                       Steve Van Zandt
                       Tony Sirico

    Contact: Owen J. Dougherty
    212-546-2551
    odougherty@grey.com

SOURCE Grey