Melissa McCarthy Brings Booking.com Back to Super Bowl

Melissa McCarthy has won notice for films ranging from “Bridesmaids” to “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” Preparations for her next project have been pretty intense.

“A Super Bowl ad requires a lot more raw eggs and squats!” McCarthy tells Variety via email.

She ought to know. After making an appearance in a Super Bowl commercial for Kia in 2017, McCarthy is returning to the Big Game ad roster in a 30-second spot for Booking.com slated to air during the fourth quarter, a sign of consumers’ continuing interest in seeing the world after the coronavirus pandemic made it difficult to do so. In a new teaser debuting Wednesday, McCarthy is in the lap of luxury, getting a foot massage and enjoying the high life.

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McCarthy’s antics on behalf of Booking.com are likely to be noticed for some time to come, says Arjan Dijk, the online travel company’s senior vice president and chief marketing officer. “At Booking.com, we don’t take ourselves too seriously, but we are very serious about the business.”

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Booking.com first appeared in the Super Bowl in 2022, with actor Idris Elba starring in its commercials. As was the case with that campaign, McCarthy will kick off a longer effort that only starts on Game Day. “We have lots of different executions – 15 seconds, six seconds, et cetera,” says Dijk.

The executive says the company studied the performance of last year’s Super Bowl ad, which showed the actor holding forth at any number of possible vacation spots. Executives knew from examining brand awareness and the number of downloads of its app that the commercial helped “accelerate” Booking.com’s efforts, says Dijk.

As part of its Super Bowl effort, Booking.com will give away half a million dollars in vacation funds, with 50 winners receiving $10,000 each in travel credits.

The comedic spots also include cameos by Ben Falcone, McCarthy’s husband and longtime collaborator.

The project let McCarthy take on a fun and frenzied project. “Nothing sounds more fun to me than getting to play nine different characters in under a minute. That’s nine different wigs, guys!” she says. ” I also use Booking.com personally. I’m not the most tech savvy and it’s easy even for me.”

McCarthy says she’s prepared for a spike in attention when the ad airs on Fox during the Super Bowl on February 12. “Well, in our house the Super Bowl will be Ben and I on the couch with the kids, and the dogs, and my parents. When it plays, I suspect my parents will be thrilled because I think they’re still shocked that I have a steady job, my kids won’t notice because they really haven’t acknowledged what I do since the early aughts, Ben will laugh, and my dogs will have once again shred the Christmas pickle stuffy that I have sewn back together exactly seven times,” she says. “Sounds perfect to me.”

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