A helicopter has been removed from John Legend and Chrissy Teigen's Super Bowl commercial in the wake of Kobe Bryant's death. The NBA legend passed away last Sunday in a helicopter crash that also killed his 13-year old daughter Gianna and seven other passengers. The helicopter removal isn't the first edit to a Super Bowl commercial this year in reference to Bryant's death. Planters Peanuts decided to pull their death of Mr. Peanut ad campaign altogether, though they will more than likely present it at a later date.
John Legend and Chrissy Teigen star in a Super Bowl Commercial for Genesis automobiles, which is underneath the Hyundai umbrella. They are promoting the company's new "Young Luxury" brand and are seen saying goodbye to old luxury at a fancy party. The commercial originally had a helicopter in the first few seconds, which has since been removed. Genesis had this to say in a statement.
"Today we re-cut our Super Bowl ad, to remove a stationary helicopter that was in the opening two seconds of the commercial. The ad had been filmed, produced and delivered well before Sunday's tragedy, so we took down the spot out of compassion and sensitivity to the families."
It's unclear if 2 seconds of a helicopter in the background of a commercial would have been a trigger, but Genesis removed it any way and probably received some extra publicity for announcing that they did so. It's that time of year and companies are trying to get their ads promoted in any way that they can to justify spending the millions of dollars that it costs for a Super Bowl ad to run.
The John Legend and Chrissy Teigen Genesis Super Bowl ad will run at some point during the second quarter on Sunday's game. The San Francisco 49ers are taking on the Kansas City Chiefs and the game is set to be a decent matchup, which means ratings should be on the high side. Companies like Walmart have really been going for it this year in an attempt to get some extra business. Walmart's star-studded Super Bowl ad may be the most expensive of the year since it brings in the worlds of Star Wars, Toy Story, Star Trek, Bill & Ted, Flash Gordon, and more into one spot.
In other Kobe Bryant news, the Super Bowl is currently working up a tribute for Sunday night. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced the tribute on Wednesday, though he did not reveal any further details. The tribute news comes after the Grammys tribute and the upcoming Academy Awards tribute to Bryant. The big game kicks of this Sunday at 3:30 PM Pacific, so make sure you head to someone's house with cable or at the very least have a trust worthy digital way of watching the game and all of its commercials. In the meantime, you can watch the John Legend and Christine Teigen commercial below, thanks to the Genesis USA YouTube channel.