Scottie Pippen Mr Submarine Commercial
Typically, we feature national commercials here on Phat Phoodies. But as a boy who grew up in the Chicago suburbs in the 1990s, the Chicago Bulls were a big deal. Before they even won a single championship, Bulls players were turning heads. In this case, Scottie Pippen was turning heads with his incredible acting abilities. Notably, we’re talking about his 1989 starring role in this Mr Submarine commercial.
Mr Submarine commercial — Scottie Pippen in his finest acting role
Pippen, who’s billed as a “Chicago basketball star” in the spot, was one of the smoothest players on a basketball court. He was a tenacious defender and could also glide through the lane for easy buckets. And sometimes, he’d slam dunk a ball on top of Patrick Ewing and then tell Spike Lee to “sit your ass down.”
Okay, that just happened one time, but it’s still pretty cool.
What Pippen never did on a basketball court, though, was dunk a sub sandwich through a hoop. Yet he effortlessly pulls that off here.
The 6’8″ Pippen then dribbles and pulls up next to a six-foot-sub, standing on its hindquarters in impressive fashion. It’s worth noting the “King” sub from Mr Submarine is 10 inches long, meaning we’d need about seven of them attached together to recreate this behemoth.
Despite his basketball prowess, Pippen needs Chicago Luvabulls dancers Kim and Cheryl to help him take on the sub. And he utters my personal favorite line of the entire commercial:
“Ladies, let’s have a party.”
Though Pippen is the star of the commercial, Cheryl has the hardest job of all. She has to smoothly slide across the court to take her position between Pippen and the sub.
If I tried to pull that off, I would be knocking everything over. That’s some mighty fine choreography there.
Mr Submarine today
In case you’re wondering, Mr Submarine still exists today, with 23 locations across the greater Chicagoland area. And it’ll be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2025, which is an awesome achievement.
Take it away, Scottie.
