Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan Return as Harry and Sally in Hellmann’s Super Bowl Spot
Last December, Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan returned to Katz’s Delicatessen on New York’s Lower East Side for the first time since their 1989 romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally … was released.
The occasion was a Super Bowl commercial for Hellmann’s mayonnaise, a spot in which Ryan and Crystal reprise their roles as Sally Albright and Harry Burns to re-create one of the most famous scenes in comedy history, at the same table where the original moment was filmed 35 years earlier.
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“They both said they hadn’t been back inside Katz’s since they shot the scene, and so we got to be there for the moment when they both walked on set,” says director Jake Szymanski, speaking at the commercial’s premiere, which was held in the iconic deli Tuesday evening. “They also hadn’t seen each other in a couple years. So we got to see them walk back into this place, and the memories flood back, and they start remembering and sharing stories and talking about what it was like to film that day.”
The commercial re-creates the “I’ll have what she’s having” scene, with Ryan enjoying (really, really enjoying) a turkey sandwich with Hellmann’s mayo, as Crystal watches on while eating a pastrami sandwich (“This one’s real,” Crystal quips). As for who could deliver that iconic scene-ending line (uttered in the original by director Rob Reiner’s mother, Estelle), the mayo brand turned to a modern-day rom-com star: Sydney Sweeney.
“There was some talk early on about, “Who are we gonna get for the cameo role? Who’s going to end the spot?” It’s such an iconic line, and When Harry Met Sally … is such an iconic rom-com and a moment for Meg, obviously, that we’re re-creating,” Szymanski said. “And I kind of like that Sydney is emerging as this new rom-com star … so I like that it was kind of like a mini passing of the torch to the next generation to have her at the end.”
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Still, the pressure was on for Szymanski and the cast and crew.
“You don’t want to screw it up,” the director said, adding that they shot the scene on the same lens that Rob Reiner used 35 years ago. “We just wanted to do it right and make it look right. … When you have celebrities like this who are doing something iconic, you want to try to make something that feels like only they could have done it.”
He also said that, compared to some other shoots he had done, the Hellmann’s spot had fewer curveballs. Addressing Jessica Grigoriou, Unilever’s vp marketing for condiments, he noted that the mayo brand locked in most of the big pieces, including the rights to the film (which is owned by Warner Bros.), the talent and the deli.
“You guys showed up and you said, ‘We’ve got Billy Crystal; Meg Ryan is in, and Katz’s is ready to shoot it there.’ And a lot of times in the commercial world, you sign up, and it’s more like, ‘I think we’re going to get Billy, and Meg’s almost definitely in, and we’re going to shoot it at the real place,” and then, you know, it ends up being a spot with two 11-year-olds in a sandbox. And you’re like, ‘What was the original idea?’” he quipped. “Obviously, I’m a huge fan of the movie, and it’s also commercial, where I feel like you integrated Hellmann’s really well. It’s not forcing itself to be somewhere it shouldn’t, so it’s a good spot for the product, so everything kind of fit together.”
And of course, no Super Bowl ad is complete these days without a real-life extension.
Hellmann’s and Katz’s will be a selling a “What She’s Having” sandwich package that can be shipped nationwide. It includes all the ingredients for the turkey sandwich featured in the spot as well as a pastrami sandwich. And Hellmann’s mayo, of course.
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