Following the Snickers ad featuring Marilyn and Willem Dafoe, last night’s Superbowl included two further references to MM. The first was a coda to the Snickers ad, with Eugene Levy playing the ‘fan guy’, reports Adweek. (And if you’re wondering how Marilyn made it into the original clip, Bustle has some suggestions.)
“‘You wouldn’t have Hollywood history without the fan guy,’ Levy said in a statement. ‘It was an honor to portray one of Tinsel Town’s forgotten heroes. Marilyn Monroe might’ve been looking down at him, but every guy in America was looking up to that stage hand.'”
Meanwhile, Alfred Eisenstadt’s 1953 portrait of Marilyn – representing beauty – appeared in another Superbowl commercial for Fiat Chrysler’s Jeep brand, AdAge reports. This is not a first – footage of Marilyn was used in Bob Dylan’s Chrysler ad for the Superbowl back in 2014.
“‘Portraits,” which aired during the halftime show, looks backwards, weaving in references to Jeep’s 1941 roots as a military vehicle created for Allied soldiers in World War II. The spot uses 60 images from around the world, including photos of famous people who have links to Jeep … Ms. Monroe — who also starred posthumously in a Snickers Super Bowl ad this year — is connected to Jeep via a honeymoon trip she took to Korea with Joe DiMaggio in the wake of the Korean War.”