Paralympic swimmer Jessica Long’s Super Bowl ad for Toyota was the emotional feel-good ad of Super Bowl Sunday.
The ad tracks Long’s amazing journey, from adoption from an orphanage in Russia to her career as a 23-time Paralympic medalist and 13-time Paralympic gold medalist. She’s one of the most recognized Paralympians in the world and has worked for the advancement of people and athletes with disabilities, work that has been the subject of countless profiles, an autobiography and a short film.
“Oh I got teary eyed … It was extremely special. It was unreal,” she said on NBC Nightly News. “It was definitely a very surreal moment to see it all on display and I think it was so incredibly special that they didn’t just highlight the gold medals … that is obviously a huge part of my story, just having that success in the pool, but what was so special was that Toyota showed, you know, the orphanage. Right? That’s where it all began.”
Well, this may just be our favorite #SuperBowl ad of all time.
We ? #WSFAmbassador @JessicaLong! #KeepPlaying | #KeepSwimming https://t.co/e4a3Cv1HNn
— Women’s Sports Foundation (@WomensSportsFdn) February 5, 2021
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The spot, for Toyota Motor North America and created by the agency Saatchi & Saatchi in partnership with Dentsu and directed by Tarsem Singh, will air in the first position in the commercial break before the two-minute warning in the second quarter of Sunday’s Super Bowl LV between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs.
“’Upstream’ highlights Toyota’s mission to shine a light on athletes like Jessica who work tirelessly every day to pursue their passion and inspire people around the world to reach their full potential,” Lisa Materazzo, group vice president of Toyota Marketing, said in a press release. “We are grateful to Jessica and her family for their willingness to allow us to share such a personal part of their story.”
A teary Long took to Instagram stories to share her joy at the ad, which hits at the message that, “We believe there is hope and strength in all of us.”
“I love that the spot highlights not just the gold medals and accomplishments but the challenging journey to get there,” Long, who is a Team Toyota athlete, said in the statement. “Perseverance, grit and overcoming the odds contributed to my success and my hope is that people feel inspired and uplifted by this emotional spot.”
Long discussed her journey on NBC Nightly News.
“I’d always loved to swim. I learned to swim in my grandparents’ backyard pool and I think for me it’s a place of freedom You know, I every day I walk with two heavy prosthetic legs and some days are more difficult than others, some days they hurt me, somedays they’re okay. So as a little girl, I just fell in love with this idea of becoming a swimmer. And I loved the fact that I could take off my legs, jump in the pool, and I felt just like the other kids,” Long said.
She is still aiming for a strong Tokyo 2021.
“When the postponement happened, for sure it was really difficult. But I think as athletes, we’re very flexible, we adapt, and even though it was really hard, it was the best decision they could have made,” she said. “Because at the end of the day, it is just swimming, right, there were a lot of things going on — a lot more important things going on than swimming. So I think the IOC, the IPC, everyone made the correct call. But it was really difficult.”