By MICHAEL GOOT Portsmouth Bureau Chief, Fosters Daily Democrat
PORTSMOUTH — Portsmouth local Gino Bona is going to the Super Bowl this year thanks to his "super ad."
The National Football League selected Bona's commercial plug out of 12 finalists in its "Pitch us your idea for the best NFL Super Bowl commercial ever. Seriously."
An NFL representative gave Bona the news on his cell phone when he was in class at Syracuse University on Monday.
"I ran out into the hallway of the building. I was very excited. They said that a USA Today reporter was going to be calling me and I'm going to be in L.A. to film the commercial. I'm going to do a press junket in New York City and then going to Miami," he said.
"I was hoping I would win. But I wasn't expecting to win. I was thrilled," he added.
The contest gave fans like Bona a chance to pitch a commercial and have it air during Super Bowl XLI. The first step was a series of cattle-call auditions. He was among thousands of people who appeared before a panel at Giants Stadium to pitch their idea.
"You only had 90 seconds to present. You couldn't use any prop so you had to act it out while kind of explaining the concept," he said.
Bona pitched an ad with the theme of "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye." He acted out scenes of a fan putting his Number 1 foam finger away on the shelf, another fan scrubbing body paint off in the shower and football great Dick Butkus tearing up upon realizing the season is over. These scenes would be set to the Boyz 2 Men song of the same name.
"I wanted to tap into the patheticness of NFL fans once the Super Bowl is over and they realize there is no NFL football," he said.
Bona beat out about 10,000 applicants.
"They felt it was the best one that resonated with their football fans," he said.
Bona first called his wife, who he said was in "shock," and then his co-workers at Garrand Marketing Communications in Portland, Maine. The NFL said he had to keep the news under wraps until USA Today ran its story.
Bona said the NFL has hired well-known TV commercial director Joe Pytka to shoot the spot. Pytka has directed such memorable spots as Ray Charles' Pepsi "Uh-Huh" campaign.
"I'm going to review and sign off on the script this week. They're going to be sending it to me." The league is flying Bona to Los Angeles to shoot the spot.
Bona finished second in the fan voting with about 20 percent. The NFL had the final call. He thinks being so highly rated by the fans helped him.
A lifelong Buffalo Bills fan and football fanatic, Bona said the big game is actually the last thing on his mind right now.
"I'm really excited about my concept about being made," he said.
ma police, boston ma police, massachusetts police, massachusetts police, mass state police, mass police, ma, mass, massachusetts, massachusetts, massachutes, massachusetts law, massachusetts polece, police, officer, police officer, cops, police gear, law enforcement, police duty gear, state police, sheriff, law, police supply, police agency directory, police agency, police department, traffic officer, police dept, state trooper, dispatcher, massachusetts county sheriff, massachusetts sheriff, massachusetts department of corrections, ma doc, doc, dept of corrections, police information, civil service, ma civil service, massachusetts crime, police training, police academy, ma police academy, massachusetts officers, masscop, masscops, mpa, bpa, ibpoa, police association, massachusetts police news, massachusetts crime news, mass most wanted, police career information, police patrol, police administration, police books, crime scene training, police discussion, crime discussions, cops
About MassCops, the home for Massachusetts law enforcement.
The Massachusetts Law Enforcement Network opened in 1998 and is now a part of the New England Police Network The site is a pro-police discussion forum intended for sworn police officers and civilian law enforcement officials as well as those interested in pursuing a career in law enforcement here in Massachusetts.
The goal of The Massachusetts Law Enforcement Network is to provide an informal network of law enforcement officials here in Massachusetts for educational and informational purposes.
The forum covers many topics such as Police Related News Articles, Agency & Profession Discussions, Police Training as well as Law Enforcement Career Information.
The Massachusetts Law Enforcement Network and The New England Police Network (NEPN) and it's network sites are privately owned websites/domains and are not affiliated with or endorsed by any government association or agency.
MassCops (masscops.com) and (masscop.com) are privately owned are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Massachusetts Coalition of Police (masscop.org)
ma police, boston ma police, massachusetts police, massachusetts police, mass state police, mass police, ma, mass, massachusetts, massachusetts, massachutes, massachusetts law, massachusetts polece, police, officer, police officer, cops, police gear, law enforcement, police duty gear, state police, sheriff, law, police supply, police agency directory, police agency, police department, traffic officer, police dept, state trooper, dispatcher, massachusetts county sheriff, massachusetts sheriff, massachusetts department of corrections, ma doc, doc, dept of corrections, police information, civil service, ma civil service, massachusetts crime, police training, police academy, ma police academy, massachusetts officers, masscop, masscops, mpa, bpa, ibpoa, police association, massachusetts police news, massachusetts crime news, mass most wanted, police career information, police patrol, police administration, police books, crime scene training, police discussion, crime discussions, cops