Is advertising going too far? Some say this Super Bowl ad is a tribute...others are calling it a mockery. What do you think?
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00:00Is advertising going too far?
00:02Some say this Super Bowl ad is a tribute.
00:05Others are calling it a mockery.
00:07What do you think?
00:08Macho man Randy Savage died at the age of 58 back in May 2011, but that isn't stopping
00:13one company from using his likeness in a brand new Super Bowl commercial nearly 14 years
00:17later.
00:18I feel like a macho man Randy Savage.
00:22What?
00:23Bosch, a company that sells power tools and appliances, dropped its ad in an extended
00:27spot a few days ahead of the big game.
00:30It features Antonio Banderas and a Randy Savage impersonator promoting their products.
00:35Bosch also put out a second, shorter ad featuring the same duo engaging in a meta-commentary
00:40about being in a Super Bowl commercial while opening a jar of pickles.
00:44Thank Bosch for putting us in the same big game commercial together.
00:47What?
00:48According to Forbes, Bosch spent around $8 million on the spot.
00:52At the time of this video, the shorter ad has over 3 million views on YouTube and barely
00:57more than 100 likes.
01:00What?
01:01Naturally, fans of the WWE Hall of Famer have thoughts on the commercial, and they aren't
01:05particularly nice ones.
01:07While some of the comments are positive, one fan noted that it felt like Bosch was making
01:11fun of the macho man more than anything.
01:14Others agreed, chiming in that the impersonation felt like a caricature of the wrestling legend.
01:19Boston fans also took to Reddit to further express their distaste.
01:23The commercial earned a post on the Commercials I Hate subreddit, and plenty of users agreed
01:27that they found it in bad taste to use the look-alike in the commercial.
01:31One person wrote,
01:32"'It's not funny or cute, it's disgusting and Bosch should be ashamed.
01:36It grinds my gears when advertisers do this with beloved celebrities that have passed.'"
01:41Bosch also posted the spot to its X page on January 27, where it only has around 1,500
01:47views.
01:48A few people who took the time to reply did so mostly in the form of facepalm emojis,
01:53and one of the comments wondered what has to be on everybody's mind.
01:56Who got permission to use Savage's likeness?
01:59Another user responded to the post with a brief,
02:01"'Hell no.'"
02:03In other words, most people found the whole thing left a bad taste in their mouths.
02:08Randy Savage himself doing the ads?
02:10That would have been fantastic, but it sounds like a lot of macho fans just can't get behind
02:14the idea of a company using his likeness to sell fridges and drills.
02:18The real, late Savage was famously the face of Slim Jim, so he was obviously no stranger
02:23to lending his image to advertisers.
02:25"'Step into a Slim Jim!'
02:28"'Turn to the spice!''
02:33For anyone who grew up in that era, his image is still almost inseparable from those exploding,
02:38over-the-top Slim Jim commercials.
02:41His legacy in advertisements also lives on in the Savage Slim Jim size, where his image,
02:46complete with bandana and sunglasses, graces the product's packaging.
02:50The difference, of course, is that he was the one who decided to do that with the image
02:54he'd spent years crafting throughout his career.
02:57The president of Bosch's North American sector, Paul Thomas, said in an interview with Forbes
03:01that they put Savage and Banderas in the advertisement because they are, quote, "'physical manifestations
03:06of the confidence, strength, and power felt when using Bosch appliances.'"
03:11"'It makes me feel like Antonio Bosch, that ass.'"
03:14While the commercial is lighthearted and humorous, with Forbes describing it as delivering a
03:18feel-good message, it's clear that wrestling fans don't exactly agree.