Squarespace’s cinematic Super Bowl 58 ad directed by Martin Scorsese imagines an alien invasion that no one on Earth notices.
The legendary director’s Super Bowl commercial debut, “Hello Down There,” is a humorous story based on the premise that people are too obsessed with the digital world. So consumed are the humans of planet Earth by their devices that they don’t even register the attempts of extraterrestrials to make contact.
A flying saucer soars over a world whose inhabitants don’t see it because they are too busy staring at their phones while walking to work, lounging at a picnic outside the Eiffel Tower, eating at a small-town diner or meeting in a boardroom. The intergalactic visitors become increasingly frustrated by their failure to capture the humans’ attention, so they resort to an earthly tool for getting noticed in the digital realm: building a snazzy website, with the help of Squarespace.
Scorsese himself appears in the ad, but he seems more distracted by his tablet and New York traffic than by the invading aliens.
This is Squarespace’s 10th consecutive Super Bowl commercial and, with Scorsese’s direction, its most prestigious Hollywood collaboration to date.
A 30-second version of the spot will air during the first half of the Big Game Feb. 11.
“At my age, it’s a stretch finding a directorial debut. When Squarespace first approached me to create a spot, I thought this was my shot,” Scorsese said in a statement. “Let’s go big, let’s do something out of this world—space guys building a website. I’m a New Yorker. We’re busy, always on the move. Would we even notice extraterrestrials living among us? It’s going to launch on this show called Super Bowl? Supposed to be big!”
Earlier this week, the brand released a teaser for its commercial in which Scorsese gets creative help from his 24-year-old daughter, Francesca, whose TikTok videos of her and her famous dad have previously gone viral. In the trailer, Scorsese told his daughter that his Super Bowl ad was about “an intergalactic plea for connection.”
The campaign will extend with a behind-the-scenes video directed by Francesca and special-edition movie posters.
Squarespace also launched a “Hello Down There” website template, which includes a science-fiction-inspired design system and commerce features such as an online store front.
“At Squarespace, we have always said that an idea isn’t real until you make a website for it,” chief creative officer David Lee said in a statement. “It’s been an honor to work alongside cinematic legend Martin Scorsese to bring this insight to life through his lens for our 10th Super Bowl campaign. Our focus on design and creativity has always been at the heart of our business and the reason why people choose us, and nothing illustrates this more than our Super Bowl campaigns.”
Last year, Squarespace’s surreal Super Bowl ad with actor Adam Driver ranked 46th on USA Today’s Ad Meter. Its 2022, its Big Game spot starring actress and singer Zendaya ranked No. 24.
For the latest Super Bowl 58 advertising news—who’s in, who’s out, teasers, full ads and more—check out Adweek’s Super Bowl 2024 Ad Tracker and the rest of our stories here. And join us on the evening of Feb. 11 for the best in-game coverage of the commercials.
