NEWBURYPORT - Gino Bona, a former Newburyporter, didn't just appear in a Super Bowl commercial. He made one.
Bona, who moved to Portsmouth, N.H., last year, won an NFL contest to create his own advertisement for the league. Bona's submission, in which dejected football fans mourn the end of the season, aired in the fourth quarter of the game.
"We'd like to think that Gino learned everything he knows from us," said Tracy Hartman, the public relations director at Aloft, the Newburyport advertising firm where Bona worked as a public relations manager for two years. "But the truth is, he's always been extremely creative."
Bona was one of two familiar faces locals may have spotted in between plays. Greg Hoyt, an Amesbury High School graduate whose parents still work in the Amesbury school system, was in a Bud Light Super Bowl commercial for the second straight year.
For Hoyt, the brief appearance in a Bud Light commercial in which people forgo high-fives for slaps across the face, was just another step in a blossoming acting career. Hoyt has starred in a number of commercials for companies like Southwest Airlines, NFL Network and Coneco Phillips.
In this year's Super Bowl ad, he is one of those being slapped. He was initially slated for a different Bud Light ad, but the agency said they liked his "physical stuff." Last year, Hoyt was cast in a frantic office that was being torn apart to find hidden Bud Lights. He punched both hands through a wall.
But while Hoyt's appearance was a mild surprise for the aspiring actor because only some of Bud Light's ads make the Super Bowl cut, Bona had a much bigger challenge ahead of him.
The former Fair Street resident beat out 1,700 fans and 12 finalists before learning on Jan. 9 that his entry into the competition - dubbed the "Pitch Us Your Idea for the Best Ever Super Bowl Commerical. Really." Contest - had won. His prize was to be on the set of the filming of the commercial and a prize package to the Super Bowl, including two tickets.
Bona pitched his ad, which shows football fans retiring their foam fingers and facepaint at season's close, to three judges at Giants Stadium last November. The public then got to vote for their favorite ad on the NFL's Web site. Bona's entry placed second in the fan vote but was chosen by the NFL to run during the Super Bowl. More than 200,000 votes were cast.
Bona, who moved to Portsmouth, N.H., last year, won an NFL contest to create his own advertisement for the league. Bona's submission, in which dejected football fans mourn the end of the season, aired in the fourth quarter of the game.
"We'd like to think that Gino learned everything he knows from us," said Tracy Hartman, the public relations director at Aloft, the Newburyport advertising firm where Bona worked as a public relations manager for two years. "But the truth is, he's always been extremely creative."
Bona was one of two familiar faces locals may have spotted in between plays. Greg Hoyt, an Amesbury High School graduate whose parents still work in the Amesbury school system, was in a Bud Light Super Bowl commercial for the second straight year.
For Hoyt, the brief appearance in a Bud Light commercial in which people forgo high-fives for slaps across the face, was just another step in a blossoming acting career. Hoyt has starred in a number of commercials for companies like Southwest Airlines, NFL Network and Coneco Phillips.
In this year's Super Bowl ad, he is one of those being slapped. He was initially slated for a different Bud Light ad, but the agency said they liked his "physical stuff." Last year, Hoyt was cast in a frantic office that was being torn apart to find hidden Bud Lights. He punched both hands through a wall.
But while Hoyt's appearance was a mild surprise for the aspiring actor because only some of Bud Light's ads make the Super Bowl cut, Bona had a much bigger challenge ahead of him.
The former Fair Street resident beat out 1,700 fans and 12 finalists before learning on Jan. 9 that his entry into the competition - dubbed the "Pitch Us Your Idea for the Best Ever Super Bowl Commerical. Really." Contest - had won. His prize was to be on the set of the filming of the commercial and a prize package to the Super Bowl, including two tickets.
Bona pitched his ad, which shows football fans retiring their foam fingers and facepaint at season's close, to three judges at Giants Stadium last November. The public then got to vote for their favorite ad on the NFL's Web site. Bona's entry placed second in the fan vote but was chosen by the NFL to run during the Super Bowl. More than 200,000 votes were cast.
Hartman said that Bona's work for Aloft often capitalized on the musical talent he displayed to the nation when he sang Boys II Men's "It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday" in his ad pitch.
"Gino came up with a lot of clever jingles and fun songs that we used in our campaigns," Hartman said.
Bona has a background in advertising from his work at Aloft and elsewhere, and he previously combined sports and pop culture in a column for ESPN.com's Page 2, but his spot for the NFL was his first television advertisement.
"It's pretty amazing to have your first advertisement be directed by the legendary ad director Joe Pitka, and to have it run during the Super Bowl," Hartman said. "How do you follow that up?"
Even though Bona had already left Aloft by the time he entered the advertising contest, the Aloft team followed his progress through the competition closely.
"We were all trying to muster up as many on-line votes for his ad as possible," Hartman said. "We're all really happy for him."
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