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Neither of New Jersey’s two resident pro football teams made it to the Super Bowl this year, but the Garden State dominated the field on the advertising front. No less than 13 celebrities with Jersey connections—including six who are members of the New Jersey Hall of Fame—appeared in 12 Super Bowl LV ads.
Here’s New Jersey’s 2021 Super Bowl lineup:
- Favorite son Bruce Springsteen, who traveled to the nation’s heartland to cut his inspirational spot of Jeep, appeared in his first commercial ever. Too bad it aired with Tampa Bay leading Kansas City by 22 points with only 8:06 left in the snoozer of a game.
- Jason Alexander, who was born in Newark and graduated from Livingston High School, was the face of the ingenious “hoodie” spot for Tide.
- Michael B. Jordan, who grew up in Newark, was sizzling in a spot for Amazon’s Alexa—in which he plays himself as a human Alexa.
- Newark-born Queen Latifah made multiple appearances in spots for her new TV series “The Equalizer.”
- Nick Jonas, of Wyckoff’s own Jonas Brothers, took a serious turn promoting Dexcom, a glucose-monitoring system. (Jonas was diagnosed with diabetes at age 13.)
- Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi of Jersey Shore fame delivered the punchline in a spot for the new Paramount+ streaming service.
- Montclair resident Stephen Colbert also appeared in a Paramount+ ad, shaking up cocktails for Patrick Stewart.
- Tracy Morgan, who lives in Alpine, starred in an entertaining spot for Rocket Mortgage.
- Eli Manning, longtime Giants quarterback and Summit resident, appeared with brother Payton and other former NFL greats in a winning ad for Frito-Lay.
- Eddie Murphy, a one-time Englewood resident, appeared in a trailer for his upcoming sequel film, Coming 2 America.
- Englewood-born John Travolta (with a shaved head) recreated his iconic Grease dance for Scotts and Miracle-Gro, with daughter Ella Bleu standing in for Olivia Newton-John. Martha Stewart, who hails from Nutley, also turns up in the ad, passing judgment on Travolta (“He’s still got it”).
- Speaking of stand-ins, Passaic-born Paul Rudd popped up in a State Farm spot as a not-so-perfect clone for Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Springsteen, Alexander, Queen Latifah, Manning, Travolta and Martha Stewart are all New Jersey Hall of Fame inductees, as is the late Vince Lombardi, the iconic coach for whom the Super Bowl trophy is named. A hologram of Lombardi, who began his coaching career at St. Cecilia’s High School in Englewood, appeared at the opening of Jersey’s big night—otherwise known as the Super Bowl telecast.