Idol, other rock legends star in Super Bowl ad
Come April, Billy Idol will be in the thick of a 17-city, two-month tour replete with the rigours of the road.
There’s that stretch of four cities in six nights. A zigzag from Baltimore to Canada to Cincinnati over four days, an itinerary that an NBA veteran might dread. And the logistical maze of a tour-capping all-day festival at the Rose Bowl, where the British rock icon will jostle with 25 other acts for stage time and the attention of a sun-soaked crowd paying up to $400 for an all-day pass.
It’s all standard stuff, save for the fact that come November, Idol will celebrate his 68th birthday.
Yet Idol, a vanguard of the MTV generation, will attack the itinerary with a gift he lacked in his youth, a self-awareness of limitations and adaptability, all in the service of artistic expression.
“You have to kind of parcel out your energy,” says Idol. “If you hit a brick wall, you hit a brick wall. When I was young, I could push beyond the brick wall, if you know what I mean.”
Or, as we’ll find out on Super Bowl Sunday, take a sledgehammer to it.
Idol will grace the big-game broadcast with a gaggle of graying rock gods, playing a key role in an advertisement for Workday, the human resources software giant. At various points, Idol totes a chainsaw and touts the number of hotel rooms he wrecked in his hard-partying heyday.
It’s a good bit of self-deprecation for both endorsers and brand, as Workday chides the insipid use of “rock star” to describe a worker going just a little beyond what’s expected in the office environment.
Idol, meanwhile, leads a chorus of largely retirement-age icons in pushing back.
Ozzy Osbourne, 74, plays a curious new hire. Kiss co-frontman Paul Stanley, 71, appears in full regalia while Joan Jett, 64, notes she’s been touring since she was old enough to drive. Grammy-winning guitarist Gary Clark Jr., a mere 38, shows off his aptitude with the axe to paint the corporate types in an even sillier light.
It was something of a circle-of-life moment for Idol, who shared a manager in the 1970s and ’80s with Stanley and has known Osbourne and Jett for at least that long.
“(Workday) wants to have a lot of fun and make fun of themselves. That’s what we can do, too,” says Idol.
The outlay for the 60-second spot — in a year commercials are going for $7 million per 30 seconds — marks Workday’s most aggressive spend after years of title sponsorship for the Memorial golf tournament and creating a key presence at The Masters. Pete Schlampp, Workday’s chief marketing officer, said entering the Super fray was a concept they began exploring five years ago, and ad partner Ogilvy’s rock star concept inspired them to go all in.
Gen Xers might be jarred to see Idol again, 40 years after his crucial role ushering in the MTV era of superstars.
It is in that spirit that Idol will reintroduce — or in some cases, introduce — himself to viewers on Super Sunday.
“That’s what punk rock was all about — caring about what you were doing, beyond success or money,” he says. “It was more about, this is important for us and society, somehow. It’s a little bit like going against the status quo is what was important. That’s still true today. We’re still kind of finding that seam. We’re doing the music we love, whether people like it or not.
“You have to believe what you’re doing has passion to it and that what you’re speaking to is important. And at the same time, having fun doing it.”