While the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles played against each other for the Super Bowl championship, a touching moment shared by all New Orleans Superdome attendants took place thanks to Rocket Mortgages. During an ad placed by the company, John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads" began playing, which turned into a singalong, as thousands began singing the classic tune.
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The commercial itself featured many families playing and sharing playful moments. These young families and first-time parents shared the screen with U.S. soldiers and even football fans, all singing along "Country Roads."
However, as soon as the ad was over, a live singalong ensued, with the whole Superdome crowd joining by singing: "Country roads, take me home / To the place I belong / West Virginia, mountain mama / Take me home, country roads."
As you might expect, many users online also shared their excitement and emotion. For them, only a couple of "Country Roads" suffice to make them shed a few tears.
"Country roads commercial followed by country roads at the stadium? Beautiful," one user wrote. "Ok Rocket Mortgage might have the commercial of the night. Great military tribute for our servicemen too!" a second user wrote. A third one said: "Ok the Country Roads commercial is the best so far."
Planning the Singalong
In an interview with USA Today, Jonathan Mildenhall, Rocket's chief marketing officer, talked about how the singalong was planned. To feature John Denver's legendary song in their ad was only the first step for him. He needed the singalong, but it wouldn't be easy. Fox Sports initially refused the idea, given the logistics and short notice. They countered with an idea: to shoot a pre-recorded singalong.
"I agreed on a compromise and honestly my enthusiasm for the idea had diminished from say a 10 out of 10 to an 8 out of 10," Mildenhall told the outlet. "It would still be historic - we'd be shooting and producing an ad in the stadium and that's never been done before."
Fortunately for him and all fans present at the Superdome this Sunday, Fox Sports changed their minds. Right after the Eagles scored a field goal, Mildenhall's vision became a reality as everyone sang "Take Me Home, Country Roads."
