If you’re Seth MacFarlane, how do you get people to view your three minute long “restricted” trailer for A Million Ways to Die in the West? You take out a Super Bowl ad claiming that you tried to show the trailer during the Super Bowl, but the powers that be decided it “wasn’t family friendly enough” and then direct viewers to your site for the “restricted” trailer. Not exactly an original method, but it’s worked in the past, and MacFarlane was never one for originality anyway.
MacFarlane’s Super Bowl spot, created in collaboration with Santa Monica production company Detour Films, also calls on Ted, the titular talking stuffed bear from his last movie (which, hey, I forgot existed), as a way of reminding fans of that movie that this is the same dude. The restricted trailer for MacFarlane’s new movie is, in fact, too explicit for television, thanks in large part to Sarah Silverman’s role as a foul-mouthed prostitute, as well as MacFarlane’s own raunchy dialogue. That’s not to say that the Super Bowl teaser itself is wholesome by any means. Between Ted’s “Oh yeah, drunk before the kickoff: new record” line and the suggestion that a certain actor starring in A Million Ways to Die in the West has an abnormally large schmendrick, it stands out as one of the more explicit ads in a particularly tame Super Bowl.
MacFarlane’s new flick features a slew of A-list names, such as Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson, Neil Patrick Harris, Amanda Seyfried, Sarah Silverman, and Giovanni Ribisi. The film is currently scheduled for a May 30th release from Universal Pictures. Stick around for the restricted trailer and credits after the jump.
Credits:
Universal Pictures
Director: Seth MacFarlane