• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, February 4, 2018

Grey unveiled its Super Bowl spot for the National Football League hours before the start of the game Sunday. It was embargoed until the third quarter, when the spot aired.

Which is a little weird, given that most spots in the game are released days before as part of amplification strategies to get more bang for the $5 million bucks that 30 Super Bowl seconds cost. I know the NFL spot was built into the current rights deal, but why not amplify the commercial?

Anyway, while the Eagles and Patriots were playing one heck of a game on the field, the NFL picked the New York Giants to represent what all the other non-Super Bowl teams are “up to,” using the film “Dirty Dancing” as a conduit to illustrate the point.

(Presumably the league and the agency got the rights to do so from Lionsgate beforehand, a lesson Havas and TD Ameritrade learned the hard way a few years back.)

The commercial is set in the Giants practice facility, where Manning and Beckham Jr. are practicing passing routes. They ultimately celebrate a touchdown by recreating the iconic dance scene from the 1987 hit movie, which starred Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, to the film’s theme song “(I've Had) the Time of My Life.”

Both players are joined on-the-field by their offensive linemen — Brett Jones, John Greco, Chad Wheeler, D.J. Fluker, and John Jerry — who serve as the duo’s backup dancers. Watching from the sideline, safety Landon Collins delivers the memorable line: “Let Them Dance.”

“Celebrations were a highlight of this season, and we had so many breakout moments where players showed their creativity together,” statedDawn Hudson, NFL CMO. “We wanted to keep that fun going for the Super Bowl and give our fans something to smile and laugh at that was just about football and how awesome it is to be part of a team.”

While the league has some serious issues — you know, like head injuries and off-field violence to name two — this spot was one of the funniest and most entertaining in the game. Right up there with the Amazon spot. It even kinda makes up for that godawful Febreze ad that Grey also did.