Super Bowl ad features Eli Manning and Odell Beckham Jr in same-sex dance routine
A Super Bowl ad featured two NFL legends dancing together – and it’s getting a lot of attention online.
The ad was released by the NFL ahead of the Super Bowl, which took place on Sunday.
It features two NFL legends, New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning and wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr, in a locker room dance routine.
The two men re-enact the famous routine from Dirty Dancing, originally starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, to the track ‘(I’ve Had) the Time of My Life’.
The pair pull off some intimate and complex dance moves, culminating in an iconic lift – with Beckham Jr taking on the role of Grey.
At one point the team’s coach moves to break up the routine, but Landon Collins tells him: “Just let them dance.”
Though the intent of the clip is up in the air, fans are loving the homoerotic video and rare same-sex dance clip.
Out CNN pundit Sally Kohn wrote: “I know we still have far to go as a nation, but that this #SuperBowl ad was not only THE BEST but an official ad of the @NFL reminds me of just how far we have come.
“And is a quiet but powerful statement on the touchdowns yet to come!”
Another fan wrote: “I don’t care what anyone says this commercial was the best thing that happened to the giants all season long.”
Speaking to Ad Week about the clip, an NFL official billed it as a “celebration”
NFL CMO Dawn Hudson said: “Celebrations were a highlight of this season, and we had so many breakout moments where players showed their creativity together.
“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.”
Ironically, the ad means there’s more same-sex dancing in the Super Bowl than there in on Strictly Come Dancing, the UK’s ballroom dancing reality series.
The popular dance TV show has repeatedly ruled out rumoured changes to include same-sex dance couples.
Although same-sex dance couples are a growing part of the ballroom dance scene, Strictly continues to ban same-sex pairings citing the show’s “traditional” format.
The claim has been much ridiculed given the show includes an annual Halloween dress-up episode and a movie-themed dress-up week.
Britain’s Got Talent judges Amanda Holden and David Walliams recently called for Strictly Come Dancing to feature same-sex couples after watching two male dancers perform at the auditions.
After watching Spanish dancers David de Menes and Javier Padilla perform the Salsa on stage, the two judges said that the BBC should be inspired to go against the grain.
Strictly should do it,” Holden said. “I love the moves and how you toss each other around on stage.”
Walliams added that two male dancers should not be scoffed at.
“It was beautiful and shows there’s nothing funny about two men dancing together. I don’t know why the BBC doesn’t have two men dancing together because it’s fantastic,” he said.
