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Nate Burleson Previews Crown Royal’s Milestone Super Bowl Commercial

Last Updated: July 1, 2023
A Canadian Whisky brand is about to run an ad during the big game for the very first time — get the lowdown from the Calgary-born wideout and TV host ahead of Super Bowl LVII.

In its second year as the official whisky sponsor of the NFL, Crown Royal is debuting the first-ever Canadian Whisky Super Bowl commercial featuring Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl. Given Crown Royal’s roots up north, the ad, whose theme is “Thank You, Canada,” will debut on Sunday during the game between the Chiefs and Eagles in Glendale, Arizona.

Former NFL wide receiver and television host Nate Burleson, who was born in Calgary, Alberta, and is an official Crown Royal partner, visited Boardroom at Radio Row this week in Phoenix to speak about the new spot, which came at quite the premium: Super Bowl advertisements reached a record-high of $7 million this year for 30 seconds of TV real estate, up from the previous $6.5 million in 2022.

“This is the time of year when all these brands spend all this money to boast about themselves, Crown Royal is flipping the script, showing gratitude to people that deserve a crown themselves,” he said. “The 60-second spot will be a good change of pace from the other obnoxious ads that you’re going to see.”

When Crown Royal first reached out to Burleson, he gave an immediate yes because of his roots. Among himself and his four brothers, Burleson is the only one born outside of the US — but geography isn’t the whole story here.

“Crown Royal identifies with the Black community. It’s a fixture at the cookouts and we all have that uncle where there’s always a bottle at the crib and that’s okay. But if that’s the case and the brand benefits off the Black dollar, then we would love to see that same type of energy reciprocated in the communities that they make money off of,” he said regarding how Crown Royal resonates with him — back in 2020, the company announced a $20 million community fund to support social justice causes in America, as well as Black communities and businesses.

Stay tuned for Crown Royal’s first Super Bowl ad spot (and get ready to sing “O, Canada”).

Super Bowl LVII between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs kicks off at 6:30 pm ET on Sunday, Feb. 12.

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About The Author
Randall Williams
Randall Williams
Randall Williams is a former Staff Writer at Boardroom specializing in sports business and music. He previously worked for Sportico, Andscape and Bloomberg. His byline has also been syndicated in the Boston Globe and Time Magazine. Williams' notable profile features include NFL Executive VP Troy Vincent, Dreamville co-founder Ibrahim Hamad, BMX biker Nigel Sylvester, and both Shedeur and Shilo Sanders. Randall, a graduate of "The Real HU" -- Hampton University — is most proud of scooping Howard University joining Jordan Brand nearly three months before the official announcement.