Comparing McDavid And Matthews' McDonald's Trick Shot Ad To Gretzky And Sundin Showdown
Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews
John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
NHL superstars Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews star in a new McDonald's commercial and feature on its new menu.
The "Showdown" showcases the Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs captains challenging each other to complete trick shots around the rink and even outside the arena.
The ad nods to previous commercials featuring Wayne Gretzky and Mats Sundin and the original commercial between two NBA legends, Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls and Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics.
In the commercial, both athletes call out abnormal shots and tricks they need to execute with a McDonald's lunch on the line. The first player to miss has to watch the winner eat his meal, or in the case of the Gretzky and Sundin commercial, buy lunch for the winner.
The commercial starring McDavid and Matthews differs from the older ads. For instance, in the older commercials, the athletes competed while wearing the jerseys of their respective teams at the time.
However, the current NHL stars are wearing the colors of the McDonald's brand: McDavid in red and Matthews in yellow. It almost feels controversial as the Calgary Flames wear red – rivals of the Oilers – and the yellow looks similar to the gold color of the Boston Bruins – rivals of the Maple Leafs.
Gretzky and Sundin's "trick shots" set the standard for the McDavid and Matthews ad. They shot from distance, batted pucks into the net and shot from the top corner of the stands, although McDavid and Matthews didn't deflect any shot off the Zamboni. Instead, McDavid and Matthews took their game outside, and the Leafs captain fired a shot at a billboard with McDavid's face on it. McDavid also had to show off a Nickelback song during one of his backhand shots, saying "You know you love 'em."
The two sets of players have an Oilers-Maple Leafs relationship, even though Gretzky was a member of the New York Rangers at the time of his commercial.
It was a fun showdown overall between McDavid and Matthews, even if it would be much better to see them try out some real trick shots. But their bigger showdown will be for real in about a month at the 4 Nations Face-Off between Team Canada and USA.
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