Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood is writing a sequel to her landmark book, The Handmaid’s Tale. Hulu, meanwhile, is preparing to release Season Three of this impossible to look away from series.
Last night during the Super Bowl, Hulu managed to intrigue fans of professional football and fans of the show with a 30-second spot that no one saw coming.
The Handmaid’s Tale Super Bowl ad takes us back in time to 1980, when San Francisco agency, Hal Riney, helped Hollywood actor and former governor of California, Ronald Reagan, ascend to the highest office in the land.
Hulu’s commercial starts off with the same scenes and eerily similar voiceover from the 39-year old ad, all of which sets up the storyline for the upcoming season, wherein themes of optimism, hope and renewal emerge. The season continues with startling reunions, betrayals, and a journey to the terrifying heart of Gilead, where the women in bondage take a stand, guided by one defiant prayer: “Blessed be the fight.”
The new Super Bowl commercial follows last year’s spot which introduced the world to Castle Rock and comes on the heels of Hulu’s growth to more than 25 million U.S. subscribers.
The Original
Hal Riney (the man, not his agency) performed the voiceover above, which manages to soothe the listener. This ad has yet to be topped in the political arena. Will 2020’s batch of candidates offer up anything close? Time will tell. What we know today is the chaos of the Trump years demands that we heal as a people. More than likely it will take magical soothing and several years of concentrated effort to rebuild our national character and confidence.
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