If just the sight of warmer weather at the Super Bowl in Arizona has you lusting for a less cold climate, then the Carnival Cruise Super Bowl commercial probably had you Googling topical vacation destinations. The very scenic ad made its debut during the big game's second quarter with booming narration by a recognizable voice to some, but not to some younger folks. All the same, it's a captivating and serious ad called "Come Back to the Sea" — as if Carnival really needs to convince the audience to drop everything and take a tropical cruise. The rousing speech was by former President John F. Kennedy and it was a perfect fit.
Kennedy's words come from his 1962 speech at the America's Cup in Newport, Rhode Island. The commercial starts off with a blurry image of the ocean that comes into focus as JFK states, "I really don't know why it is that all of us are so committed to the sea." As the speech goes on, the ad shows viewers some pure ocean/vacation porn — montages the sights of cruise ships sailing through a glossy tropical ocean, in the arctic, underneath aurora borealis, and beside the Statue of Liberty in New York City.
The scenic images are followed by — naturally — visuals of families having fun on the beach, watching a gorgeous sunset, scuba-diving, watching the sunset again, holding hands, and paddling boarding into the sunset. The ad closes with Carnival's statement, "Come Back to the Sea," as Kennedy says, "And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch it we are going back from whence we came."
Twitter, of course, had some mixed reactions to the ad itself and wondered if JFK's being used for Carnival, who could be next?
Watch the commercial and judge the use of JFK's speech for yourself.
