The United States Secret Service will air an ad during the Super Bowl made by Michael Bay, a director known for his high-octane action scenes in movies like the Transformers series.
The ad cost the Secret Service $2 million to produce, reported CNN, citing people in the NFL and the government agency who are familiar with the project.
That price tag is roughly double what the Secret Service paid for prior ad campaigns, CNN also revealed.
This comes after Donald Trump was nearly assassinated by a gunman at a rally last July in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The attempt on the president’s life revealed stunning problems within the Secret Service, including a staffing shortage the agency appears eager to remedy with the upcoming Super Bowl ad.
The ad will reportedly air during the pregame show on the jumbotron at the Caesars Superdome stadium in New Orleans.
The ad time is being donated to the Secret Service, meaning it won’t have to pay millions to get its messaging in front of the lucrative Super Bowl crowd. Ad buys during Super Bowl Sunday this year cost as much as $8 million.
There are also indications that a televised commercial could air on Fox, the network broadcasting the big game. CNN reported that that ad space would also be donated to the Secret Service.
Michael Bay was chosen by the Secret Service to direct its Super Bowl ad, a gambit to recruit more personnel
Bay is pictured shaking hands with President Donald Trump at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on January 31, 2025
Secret Service Director Sean Curran told CNN through a spokesperson that ‘he empowered the team to identify a novel and expedient approach that leveraged one of the most recognizable Directors to produce a representation of the men and women behind the Secret Service within nine days while ensuring compliance with requisite rules.’
News of the ad broke after Bay was seen shaking hands with Trump about a week ago as the president was about to board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews. Bay was reportedly shooting the Secret Service ad at the military outpost in Maryland.
The ad, meant to showcase the agency’s role in protecting the nation’s leaders, will use images of Secret Service agents and former presidents.
This will possibly include historical footage of John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, both of whom had high-profile attempts on their lives.
Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963 during a visit to Texas, while Reagan survived a bullet to the left armpit in March 1981.
There is also expected to be an image of Trump at the Butler rally, but it’s unclear if that made the final cut.
Trump will be at the game and will possibly be there in time to see the ad. He is the first sitting president to attend the Super Bowl.
‘I came up with the concept for the PSA that America was founded on the idea of freedom,’ Bay told CNN in a statement. ‘Throughout our short but powerful history as Americans, we have always stepped forward in time of need. This was a spot to honor the true silent heroes who protect the leaders of our democracy.’
President John F. Kennedy is pictured in a motorcade traveling through Dallas minutes before he was shot to death on November 22, 1963
President Ronald Reagan is seen wincing and raising his arm after he was shot in Washington D.C. on March 30, 1981
President Donald Trump is seen getting ushered off the stage by Secret Service agents after he was shot at during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024
Initially, CNN reported that the ad wouldn’t air at the Superdome, with a source close to the NFL telling the outlet that the Secret Service submitted its request too late and the ad space was full.
Less than a day later, the NFL said it would indeed air the ad. The league gave no reason for the change.
The ad was shot and produced in fewer than two weeks and will now be shown in a stadium with a 76,000-seat capacity.
The official kickoff time for Super Bowl LIX is around 6:30pm. The Kansas City Chiefs will face off against the Philadelphia Eagles, the same matchup from 2023.
