When Harry Met Sally stars Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan reunite in Super Bowl commercial
That tease of a When Harry Met Sally reunion set the internet ablaze.
But when we all saw that photo of Billy Crystal in that luscious cream cable knit jumper say next to Meg Ryan on a velvet love seat, we should’ve remembered what time of the year it was.
Of course it was going to be a Super Bowl commercial.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.The ad is for American condiments brand Hellmann’s which saw Crystal and Ryan recreate the famous faked orgasm scene from the movie.
The characters are back at Katz’s Deli in New York with Harry wryly observing, “I can’t believe they let us back in this place”.
The pair slink right back into their characters’ tete-a-tete dynamic (swoon) before biting into their sandwiches, only Sally isn’t satisfied with hers. She’s not “feeling it”, so she grabs a bottle of the mayo in front of her, squeezes a huge amount onto it and tries again.
She then re-enacts Sally’s faked orgasm right there at the table, except Harry chimes in, “This one’s real” before cutting to another diner, who remarks “I’ll have what she’s having”.
Instead of Estelle Reiner, director Rob Reiner’s mother who played that role in the original 1989 film, it’s actor Sydney Sweeney.
Let’s get a couple of things straight. First, there is no world in which Sally Albright would squeeze that much mayonnaise onto her sandwich. This, from the woman who famously insists on all salad dressing be on the side.
Second, isn’t it kind of rude to suggest that Katz’s Deli would not serve you a perfect sandwich already, that it needs a lot of store-bought, bottled mayo to improve it?
The Katz people obviously didn’t mind with a behind-the-scenes video of the ad shoot showing the cast and crew back at the New York institution.
When Harry Met Sally really put Katz on the map for tourists travelling to New York City. When you walk into the real-life restaurant, there’s even a sign hanging above the table where the film scene was shot that reads, “Where Harry Met Sally… Hope you have had what she had. Enjoy!”.
Written by Norah Ephron, When Harry Met Sally is considered the pinnacle of American romantic-comedies. It celebrates its 35th anniversary this July.
The American Super Bowl may be a gridiron football, but for many, the real attraction is the celebrity-studded halftime ads, many of which are posted online in the days before the big game.
This year, in addition to the When Harry Met Sally spot, Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson reprised their True Detective characters for an ad for a group called “True to Texas”, which lobbies for more film and TV production spend in the Lone Star state. It also features appearances from Billy Bob Thornton and Texans Renee Zellweger and Dennis Quaid.
Super Bowl ad spots are notoriously expensive. The rates for 2025 are reportedly upwards of $US8 million for a 30-second slot.
