Alicia Silverstone Returns As Cher In Clueless Super Bowl Commercial For Rakuten
The Super Bowl hasn't actually happened yet, but as is tradition these days, we're already getting a good look at many of the biggest commercials that are set to run during the game. Does this take pretty much all of the joy and surprise out of actually experiencing them live without any warning? Yes. Are some of them still a lot of fun? Also yes.
Among the batch of early releases is a commercial for the online cash back program Rakuten, which works as an extension on your computer or an app on your phone that helps you get coupons and cash back when shopping. Rakuten went all out for their Super Bowl commercial with a scene that features one of the most recognizable characters in teen movie history: Cher Horowitz from "Clueless." Alicia Silverstone is reprising the role she played 28 years ago (although the idea for "Clueless" originated in 1993, making this a 30-year-anniversary of sorts), alongside Elisa Donovan, who played antagonist Amber in the film.
The one minute ad features Silverstone as Cher giving a report to her high school class, still wearing the yellow plaid skirtsuit that became instantly recognizable after Amy Heckerling's film dropped in 1995. Instead of talking about how the Statue of Liberty doesn't say RSVP, however, Cher's extolling the benefits of Rakuten in a debate-style face-off against Amber. The commercial is pretty straightforward, but it also lets us see Cher outside the classroom, pulling a pink sweater out of her rotating closet and backing her white Jeep Wrangler straight into a delivery van.
You'd have to be butt-crazy not to watch this commercial
I maintain that the thrill of all this would've been more enduring if we all got to experience it together during the Super Bowl instead of days earlier when we happen upon a headline about it ... but since that doesn't seem to be the way all this works anymore, I'll enjoy what we did get. Namely, Alicia Silverstone clearly having a lot of fun as Cher as she delivers lines like "In conclusion, you'd have to be butt-crazy to shop without Rakuten." The crowd of stylish teens goes wild!
"She's one of film's most historic shopaholics," Silverstone told Entertainment Weekly when discussing bringing back the character, "So the idea that she would be able to use this app would be the greatest hack ever." The actor added that returning as Cher "felt really good," and that she at first wondered how she should prepare for her return to the role before deciding to just dive in and make it happen. "I had no idea if I could do it or not, but I just went for it," she told EW. "And I had fun."
This isn't the only movie-centric ad that's already dropped ahead of Super Bowl LVII. The last Blockbuster store in Bend, Oregon, went in a clever direction this year by creating a Super Bowl ad that won't actually air during the game, but can be rented from the store on VHS. It makes sense that the store (and lots of other companies) wouldn't want to pay for that screen time: according to Variety, 30 second ads that will run during the big game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday can cost as much as $7 million.