Tip Your Hat to This Creepy Western-Themed Tubi Super Bowl Ad

1 month ago 7

Yeehaw and yee-ikes! With some advertisers opting for big celebrities and flashy stunts for their Super Bowl ads this year, free, ad-supported streamer Tubi went with another time-tested strategy: good old-fashioned nightmare fuel. In the new ad that was somehow not directed by David Cronenberg, genre fandom manifests physically via a fleshy hat-like structure on your head.

The ad chronicles the life story of a boy blessed (or cursed?) from birth to love Westerns, as evidenced by the grotesque cowboy hat of flesh and bone growing from his skull. As he ages, he attempts to live a normal life, despite constant bullying and taunting from his peers — not because of his horrific skin-Stetson, but because it’s the wrong hat. Westerns, alas, just aren't the ho genre right now. He suffers slings and arrows from fantasy fans, gangster groupies, and horror hounds, but eventually finds his place: a section of town populated by like-minded Western fans, although thankfully their hats are made of traditional hat materials and not human tissue. A billboard for the Tubi-original film Calamity Jane, starring Emily Bett Rickards as the Wild West legend, is naturally featured prominently. Sauntering into a saloon, he placates his fantasy-loving onetime bullies by changing the channel, making them doff their own cowboy hats in respect. The commercial ends with Tubi’s slogan: if it’s in you, it’s in here.

What Is Tubi?

Founded in 2014, Tubi celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. The streamer offers a dizzying array of films and TV shows, from canonical classics of cinema to horror movies that appear to have been made for the cost of an Arby’s combo. Free to watch, the streamer is supported with ad breaks. In recent years, the streamer has also begun producing its own original programming. Examples include a remake of the classic 1980s slasher Terror Train, the drag-themed horror film Slay, and the new sitcom The Z-Suite, a generation gap workplace comedy starring Lauren Graham. As it’s owned by Fox, this year’s Super Bowl broadcaster, Tubi is also streaming the big game this year.

While Tubi may be free, Super Bowl ad space sure isn’t. A thirty-second ad on this year’s Fox telecast cost about $8 million USD this year; with almost an hour of ads slated to run during the game, that’s hundreds of millions of dollars into Fox and the NFL’s coffers.

Tubi is available for free worldwide, with no sign-up needed. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates, and watch Tubi’s Super Bowl ad above…if you dare.