The George Strait Super Bowl Commercial You Didn’t See

The hype-er bowl or Super Bowl as the NFL likes to call it has come and gone. There is no doubt that you experienced the "Super Sunday" like millions of other Americans did. You probably gathered with a few close friends or family. You may have cooked something decadent, delicious, or just downright unhealthy. And, you watched the commercials that were broadcast during the course of the game.

Super Bowl commercials through the years have become almost as iconic as the championship game itself. Every year in the days following the game there is much debate over which advertisers "won" the day and which advertisers "lost a lot of money" in making their pitch the estimated more than 100 million viewers who had the game turned on at their house.

I find what makes a Super Bowl commercial memorable is the element of surprise. And that element of surprise is what makes this commercial that a lot of you didn't see stand out to me.

Need an example of "surprise" in a commercial? Watch this classic from 2003. Yeah,the spot was so good I still remember it all these years ago. 

See how the element of surprise figures into the commercial itself? Nobody expected a hulking football player to come busting through an office environment in such a robust way. The only problem with this commercial is, I have no idea who the sponsor is or what they are trying to sell.

In case you were wondering the company in question is Reebok (I had to Google it). I know they make shoes and sporting goods and activewear but they didn't really mention any of that in this commercial. I wonder if Reebok would be having the market share of Nike or Adidas if they had mentioned the name of their product a little more prominently in the commercial?

This leads us to the reason you are reading this article. You, like me, are probably a fan of George Strait. I have been on the Strait Bandwagon since the early 80s. He is an icon, he is a gentleman, and he is a great representative of what's good about Country Music.

We know he can act. Well okay, he was in that movie Pure Country. Here this will refresh your memory.

I must admit, seeing George with the ponytail made me a bit uncomfortable but I got past it because he is George Strait. And his name and association carry a lot of weight with a lot of people. So having George Strait as a spokesman for your company would be quite the coup for a business to pull off.

Well, there was a business that managed to get George Strait to be a part of the Super Bowl television commercial and as you might imagine it was another Texas icon. It was the H-E-B Grocery store chain. H-E-B is about as Texas as it gets. The company operates some 340 stores, all in Texas and northern Mexico. In other words, prime George Strait fandom.

And the reason you probably didn't see this George Strait Super Bowl advertisement is that you don't live in Texas. The commercial ran in limited broadcast during the game on Sunday. But it still was a very smartly produced piece of advertising artwork.

Before we watch the commercial, what do you think is the scenario or setup of the spot? If you guessed a lot of wide-open spaces and endless landscapes you'd be right. Cowboys and horses would have to be in the shot right? Wrong.

Look, it's better if you just watch and see if you can figure out where George is going to pop up. He only is on the screen for a very short time. But I bet you can find him.

Yeah, somebody thought it was a good idea to cast George Strait, King of the Cowboys, as an astronaut. And, I do believe it worked. I don't live anywhere near an H-E-B grocery and I want them to deliver groceries to my house.

Especially if they will let George Strait deliver them via rocket. Talk about fast, friendly delivery. And speaking of Texas icons, I know they aren't Texas exclusive anymore but who doesn't like to slip into the Beaver's place for some jerky and nuggets, right?