Carl Weathers to appear in FanDuel Super Bowl commercial following death
Following the unexpected death of Carl Weathers, the show will go on with FanDuel and its 2024 Super Bowl commercial.
The beloved actor, known for his roles in “Rocky” and “Happy Gilmore,” died Thursday in his sleep at age 76. Before his death, Weathers filmed a Super Bowl LVIII campaign for the online sports-betting platform that launched Jan. 26.
FanDuel announced last week that it planned to make adjustments to the “Kick of Destiny 2” ad, starring four-time Super Bowl champ Rob Gronkowski. Variety reported Tuesday that Weathers will, indeed, still appear in the ad on Super Bowl Sunday.
The company’s marketing chief said he consulted with the family of the actor and former Raiders linebacker, and they gave the go-ahead to continue business as usual.
“The family has been very supportive that they would still like to see Carl in the work, Andrew Sneyd told Variety, noting that “appropriate” changes will be made.
“We need to change what we are doing in the Bowl,” the executive vice president of marketing explained. “Since the news of Carl’s passing came, we have been working with editors to help us get back to something that does make sense.”
The full commercial, created by multicultural ad agency Lerma, will run during the championship football matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, Feb. 11, airing on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
