It could be the greatest ad of all time. For its first Super Bowl foray, MBNA enlists Gladys Knight—yes, ’70s soul diva Gladys Knight, of “Midnight Train to Georgia” fame—for a 30-second spot. And in the coolest, hippest marketing salvo since the sexy chicken (or whatever that was), Gladys busts loose in a savage spoof of last year’s wardrobe-malfunction fiasco. Who could play Justin Timberlake? Partridge Family songster and former teeny-bop king David Cassidy, of course!

Too good to be true? Well, maybe it is. That’s the commercial AdFreak wants to see. Knight and Cassidy. At the Big Game. Belting it out old-school. Flashing some teat. That would help MBNA give Citibank and BofA a run for their money. That would be da bomb.

Alas, there’s no indication that Gladys will portray any member of the Jackson clan. (For all we know, she won’t even sing.) And David Cassidy just sort of popped into our head. It’s doubtful Fox would even let an advertiser pull such a stunt. Still, MBNA is being kind of secretive. They haven’t said what Gladys will do. And even if she gets a bit out of hand, at least we know Paul McCartney will keep his shirt on.

—Posted by David Gianatasio