Amazon is no stranger to Super Bowl ads, and the company has one more ready for this year’s big game. The 2021 ad stars actor Michael B. Jordan, who you may know as Erik Killmonger Black Panther or quarterback Vince Howard Friday night lights, as the company’s smart Alexa assistant.
In the ad, a woman dreams of what it would be like if Alexa were personified as the very handsome Jordan, and she’s appropriately smitten with the AI. At one point, for example, the woman asks Alexa to dim the light, and Jordan takes off his shirt in response. (Her partner then humorously rushes to demand that Alexa turn the lights back on.)
The ad is a fun twist on Super Bowl ads that attractive women use to sell something. (Some of Carl’s Jr. and GoDaddy’s infamous Super Bowl commercials come to mind.) It’s all made so much better by Jordan’s terrifying eyes, which are the unnatural glowing blue you might recognize from the rings on an Amazon Echo device.
You can watch a 60-second version of the commercial at the top of this post. A 90 second version is embedded in one tweet from Amazon.
This isn’t the first time Amazon has used a celebrity to impersonate Alexa in a Super Bowl ad. The 2018 commercial featured the voice talents of Gordon Ramsay, Rebel Wilson, Cardi B and Anthony Hopkins as Alexa when it “lost” its voice. And if you want to think back to other star-studded Alexa ads from Amazon for many years to come, here’s a list of the company’s past Super Bowl shorts: