Tom Hanks Narrates Super Bowl Ad For The Washington Post On Journalism’s Importance
UPDATE: The video can be viewed below.
Tom Hanks stepped up for The Washington Post during a Super Bowl commercial. The veteran actor narrated a 60-second spot airing during the big game about the importance of journalists.
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The ad featured images of some of the biggest stories since World War II, with Hanks talking about journalists as those who “gather of facts to bring you the story, no matter the cost.”
The Post announced the ad would be airing the day before the spot debuted.
Hanks and Meryl Street starred in Steven Speilberg’s The Post, about the paper’s fight against the US government’s efforts to hold publication of the Pentagon Papers, which revealed secrets of the US involvement in the Vietnam war and bombings in Laos and Cambodia.
“The Super Bowl is a remarkable moment to recognize the courage and commitment of journalists around the world that is so essential to our democracy,” said WaPo publisher and CEO Fred Ryan. “We decided to seize the opportunity to make this a milestone moment in our ongoing campaign.”
The spot ended with the paper’s recent slogan, “Democracy Dies in Darkness.”
The Washington Post jumped into the Super Bowl fray late and reportedly paid $5.25 million for the spot. “This was a chance for a broader message about the role journalists play in our everyday lives and the risks they take to bring us the facts,” Ryan said.
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