By now, Super Bowl commercials have turned ad spots into an art form, and in one company's case, that's literal: the LIFEWTR Super Bowl commercial featuring John Legend's music is a touching homage to the importance of art. In the extended version of the 30-second clip titled “Inspiration Drops” that will air Sunday during the first quarter, a stormy city is transformed into a colorful haven. Rain drops turn everything into vibrant, sprawling murals as a revamped version of Legend's "Love Me Now" plays on. "A whole world of dreams we can explore. The moment is crying out," he croons.
Helmed by two-time Academy Award-winning director Robert Stromberg (Maleficent), the video features artwork from the Pepsi product's new design plan. Its label will change throughout the year, serving as both a platform for emerging artists and an inspirational outlet for consumers.
Legend had a similar message when he debuted "Love Me Now" last fall. The poignant video, released in November, showcased families from four resilient places across the world: the memorial at Orlando's Pulse Nightclub, North Dakota's Standing Rock Reservation, the Domiz Refugee Camp in Northern Iraq, and Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic. He appeared in the visual with wife Chrissy Teigen and their daughter, Luna, alongside a handful of real-life couples.
Later, Legend shared their stories via Instagram, recounting the many ways that they'd overcome life's hardships. “LaDonna and Miles met in college,” he wrote of Miles, a retired schoolteacher from the Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa Tribe, and LaDonna, a historian for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. “For 30 years they have been praying for unity and solidarity, and working to help leave the world a better place.” Of a pair named Nata and Julisa, he said they'd grown up "on the backstreets of Cabarete Town, Dominican Republic" where "the infrastructure is fragile and the opportunities are sparse," but that they had "each other" and the "ocean.”
Those stories are why "Love Me Now" is such a perfect fit for LIFEWTR's empowering commercial. Both show that no matter how dark the world gets, there's still light in love and art.
