Jason Sudeikis Confuses American Football with Soccer for NBC Sports

If you live in either Chicago or Boston, you may have watched (or wanted to watch) the Stanley Cup Finals, in which case you realized that you don’t have access to NBC Sports. After some McGyver-ing and hooking you iPad to your TV, you got thousands about thousands of commercials advertising that NBC Sports would be broadcasting every game of England’s prestigious Barclays Premier League. After digesting this fact, you immediately stopped caring because 1.) You’re an American who likes ‘merican sports and 2.) Again, you don’t have access to NBC Sports.

But who better to make you, an American without access to NBC, care about this development than Jason Sudeikis, a former Saturday Night Live cast member who has appeared basically fucking everywhere in the last month? First, dude quits SNL. Then, he starts going on a press tour for his terrible-looking new movie, Meet The Millers, where he stars opposite Jennifer Aniston, who plays a middle-aged stripper. Then, he joined ESPN to count down the top 50 “This Is SportsCenter” ads last week. Then, he made cameo appearance in Drinking Buddies, a new film playing on Apple TV before it hits theaters at the end of the month and stars Sudeikis’ real-life fiance, Olivia Wilde. Then, Kiran shows me this and asks me to write about it, compelling me to start complaining about how Jason Sudeikis is fucking everywhere these days. Then, wouldn’t you know it, he releases a viral video YESTERDAY where he leads a parody version of Mumford & Sons, with Ed Helms, Jason Bateman and Will Forte starring as his bearded indie-folk backing band.

Seriously, it’s absolutely impossible to get rid of this guy. Watch him play a dumb American coach who doesn’t get soccer above in a new campaign from the Brooklyn Brothers (who you may remember from those kick-ass John Krasinski/Alec Baldwin New Era spots), and then don’t talk to me about Jason Sudeikis until you’ve developed some sort of Sudeikis repellant.

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Alec Baldwin and Charles Barkley Strike Up March Madness Bromance for Capital One

Capital One pitchman Alec Baldwin gets an assist from Charles Barkley in new ads from DDB Chicago and Tool director Erich Joiner timed to the NCAA's March Madness tournament, of which the financial firm is a prominent sponsor. In one spot, the pair perform goofy schtick during a sports broadcast, with the Round Mound's tent-size underpants held up to ridicule. In another, they attend a basketball game, where Sir Charles keeps snacks warm inside his jacket and reveals, "It's like a little hot-dog steamer in there"—which is frankly something I never needed to know. All this sporty-bro-bonding is kind of strained and silly, but overall the tone is probably in tune with the target audience. Besides, Baldwin's slimy smile and smug delivery never get old. And Barkley's dazed and indifferent acting style is a hoot—it's as if he can't collect his check and get off the set fast enough. They're like a puffy, middle-aged Odd Couple, and their combined charisma—though not much else—keeps the proceedings from becoming the commercial equivalent of an air ball. More spots and a behind-the-scenes clip after the jump.

Jaguar, RSA Release ‘Desire’ Trailer Starring Damian Lewis

So it would seem that the weird Lana Del Rey music video produced by Jaguar was merely a tease foreshadowing bigger things to comes. In fact, Del Ray’s four-minute warble-fest “Burning Desire” is actually the soundtrack to a new short-film that heavily integrates the Jaguar F-Type, Desire.

Starring Golden Globe-winning actor Damian Lewis (Homeland) and Shannyn Sossamon (who’s been kind of quiet since starring in such films as 40 Days and 40 Nights and Wristcutters: A Love Story), Desire is the result of a collaboration with Jaguar, Ridley Scott Associates and agency Brooklyn Brothers (the guys behind the Alec Baldwin/John Krasinski New Era spots). The short film has no official release date beyond “spring,” and a press release describes it as “a story of betrayal, retribution, passion and greed.”

In a statement, Lewis says of his involvement, “Working with the director Adam Smith from Ridley Scott Associates, it promises to be an adventure. Jaguar cars have played some iconic roles in film for many years and I’m looking forward to being the first to drive the F-TYPE in film.”

Of course, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen a car company give its marketing a turn for the cinematic. In fact, it’s been over a decade since BMW Films’s Clive Owen-starring series The Hire gained critical acclaim for its groundbreaking approach to car advertising. In 2013, will the same sort of execution move F-Types? I suppose we’ll find out soon.

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