The Big Lie The Lay's Super Bowl Commercial Tried To Get Away With
Okay, Lay's Potato Chips, we see what you did there. Your Super Bowl commercial, "Memories," featuring People's "Sexiest Man Alive" Paul Rudd and always-lovable actor Seth Rogen, did what it was supposed to do. You created a charming dynamic through Rudd and Rogen's awesome buddy chemistry. You reminded fans of your various flavors. You inserted some funny, highly cinematic throwbacks to things that never happened. You included a jump-scare at Rogen's horrifying zombie wedding. And you made people laugh. Seriously. As one viewer wrote on YouTube, "Can't quit laughing ... love it!!!!" Another grateful commenter added, "Thanks for the midwinter chuckle!"
But we caught you, makers of "can't eat just one" potato chips, in a moment that was as unbelievable as those undead bridesmaids. As the funnymen reminisce over a bag of chips about all the good times they shared (also over a bag of chips), something very unlikely happens. The guys reach into a package of Lay's and grab — from just below the opening of the bag — their crispy, salty snacks.
Now, anyone who's ever opened a bag of chips (so, everyone) knows, of course, that there are never chips at the top of the bag. Naturally, "everyone" includes one YouTube user who remarked, "You can tell it's a fake bag when Paul's reaching in. Even if the bag was brand-new, he'd have to reach halfway down the bag just to get a chip." The first half or so of the bag is a big, puffed-out void (per Today).
No slack for Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd
As "Jeopardy" phenom Ken Jennings writes for Woot!, "Chips are labeled and sold by weight, not volume." So, why are there so few chips and so much emptiness around them? What seems like air puffing up the top half of your bag of chips isn't really air at all but nitrogen that does two things: prevents the chips from becoming stale and keeps the bag (hopefully) squish-resistant. This "slack fill," as it's known, is the reason Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd would never be able to reach into a bag of Lay's and pull a chip from the top.
So, just how low would our heroes have to go to snag a chip? According to a study by Kitchen Cabinet Kings, "air" takes up about 41% of the space in a bag of Lay's chips. While Today characterized the study as "non-scientific," if we assume that figure is close enough, it would mean Rudd and Rogen would probably have to reach not quite halfway down before landing on a handful of chips.
Did the producers of the Lay's commercial fill the bag with extra chips, or did viewers just see some creative editing? We may never know. But, maybe, fans can at least imagine that in real life, Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd are elbow-deep in their bags of potato chips, just like anyone else would be.
Lay's Super Bowl ad went all out
Despite the mishap regarding the depth of its bags, Lay's went big this playoff season with some pretty creative ads and marketing strategies. In early January, the snack brand announced a new product: Lay's Golden Grounds. To make the special chips, Lay's traveled to different NFL teams' home fields to gather dirt, then mixed it with the dirt the potatoes would be grown in. So, for example, Rams fans could have been eating potato chips grown from the dirt at SoFi Stadium as they cheered their team along to a Super Bowl win (via Instagram).
Lay's also released two teasers for its Super Bowl commercial, one of which featured Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd riding in a nostalgic convertible with a bag of Lay's in hand. The other teaser features a shrine to Rogen overseen by what we can only describe as a creepy man whose van you definitely don't want to climb into the back of.
Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd are comedy gold
The Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd comedy duo is one that's had audiences laughing for decades, as they have appeared side-by-side in many movies, including "Knocked Up," "Anchorman," and "The 40-Year-Old Virgin." Newsweek even calls their connection and acting chemistry a Hollywood "bromance."
It's no surprise, then, that the two stars were a natural pick for Lay's "Golden Memories" Super Bowl commercial, which shows viewers snippets of their friendship from years past through a series of fake flashbacks, including a road trip when the pair was kidnapped by a stalker and buying Rogen's first house, where he meets his future wife.
Fans loved the Lay's ad and its teaser videos, too. An Instagrammer commented on the car trailer, writing, "Rudd can tease anything and I'll buy," while another wrote, "It's great to see Seth and Paul together." And one YouTuber just can't get enough of the Rogen/Rudd dynamic, commenting on the commercial, "these guys need to do a buddy movie together."