Comcast Reunites E.T., Elliott For the Holidays
by Stephanie MlotIn the spirit of the holidays, Comcast has reunited two old friends to hawk its Xfinity cable, internet, and home phone services.
Nearly 40 years after leaving Earth, E.T. is back—and still scaring the poop out of small children.
In a longform commercial that debuted during Thursday’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (on Comcast’s NBC), everyone’s favorite extra-terrestrial returns to visit Elliott.
But the boy (Henry Thomas) has grown into a man (still Henry Thomas), with a family of his own (including two children who look suspiciously like a young Thomas and Drew Barrymore).
“The audience is going to get everything they want out of a sequel without the messy bits that could destroy the beauty of the original and the special place it has in people’s minds and hearts,” Thomas said in a statement provided by Comcast and published by Variety.
E.T.—the film and character—is no stranger to product placement. I still get a craving for Reece’s Pieces every time I see the big-eyed alien. But he’s an unexpected addition to a festive ad. (Especially considering we’re still a few years away from the movie’s ruby anniversary.)
A compressed version of the commercial aired on TV this week; the full, four-minute-long version can be seen online (above).
Watch as E.T. catches up on life with Elliott’s family, who show him how to surf the web with Comcast’s Xfinity and use an Xfinity TV remote to conjure up holiday movies.
In return, he takes Elliott 2.0 and his sister on a magical bicycle ride through the sky—one of many throwbacks to the original film.
“Our goal is to show how Xfinity and Sky technology connects family, friends, and loved ones, which is so important during the holidays,” PEter Intermaggio, senior vice president for marketing communications at Comcast Cable, said in a statement reported by Variety.
“The classic friendship between E.T. and Elliott resonates around the world,” he continued. “And their story became a very meaningful way to bring our company’s consumer technology to life.”
Steven Spielberg may not have top billing for this sort-of sequel. But the filmmaker, according to Variety, gave his blessing to Comcast, and was consulted throughout the project.
Keep an eye out for the heartwarming ad, set to run in the U.S. through Jan. 5; Comcast will air Sky-related variants in Germany, Italy, and the U.K.
The conglomerate will also feature the original 1982 flick on its SYFY network and across the Xfinity TV platform. Xfinity X1 customers can simply say, “E.T. phone home” into their voice remote to find the movie and unlock more extra-terrestrial content.
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