What happened to the creepy Tubi rabbit commercial from Super Bowl?

For the most part, this year’s Super Bowl ads were super disappointing…until the creepy Tubi rabbit commercial popped up. While the giant person-sized bunnies looked more like the mythical Easter variety, they evoked a Donnie Darko vibe.

It started with a woman working on her laptop at home. Suddenly something passes by her. We don’t know that it’s a bunny at first, though. She glances over her shoulder, as if sensing something, but then goes back to work. Which doesn’t last long. Next thing you know, there’s a giant furry paw on her shoulder and we see the bunny jerking her backward clean out of her chair.

What the what?

The next bunny snatch starts with the camera zooming in on a high school or college-aged boy hitting the books in a library. This time we see the bunny’s foot first as it kicks the chair out from under the student. Before he (and us, the viewers) know it, the boy is looking at the back end of the rabbit’s butt as it drags him by legs through the library.

It had my attention from the very get go with its creepy overtones, but now I was completely invested in finding out what this ad was all about.

It only continued to get more sinister, in a funny way, when a school principal is in his office looking at his phone. Suddenly the shadow of a bunny head looms over him. Next thing we see is a janitor wearing headphones as he cleans the floor, oblivious to the rabbit marching down the hallway behind him with the principal slung over its shoulder.

Then there’s a montage of bunnies, bunnies everywhere. Dragging people from their homes, surrounding cars, yanking people from them, and leading them to holes where they proceed to toss, kick and drop the bunny-snatched people down the rabbit holes. Then we see the people as they freefall past a bunch of television screens showing a variety of programs.

That’s when we’re hit with the message, “Find rabbit holes you didn’t know you were looking for.”

We see the gleeful faces of some of the falling people before it cuts to Tubi’s free movies and TV logo screen.

Brilliant! Bravo! Best commercial of the night!

But what happened to the Tubi rabbit commercial? Did anyone formally recognize the brilliance of it?

That’s what I wondered when I saw the lineup for what’s playing on Tubi in March. So I journeyed down the rabbit hole in search of answers. Here’s what I dug up.

The creepy Tubi rabbit commercial won a Super Clio

During October, Tubi unleashes spooky content of all kinds as part of its Terror on Tubi. Maybe the rabbit hole commercial would’ve been better suited to that season, but thankfully they unleashed it during Super Bowl.

I bet they’re pretty happy about that too. While it wasn’t even ranked among the 51 Super Bowl commercials on USA Today’s Ad Meter, it did get some pretty prestigious —not to mention coveted— notice elsewhere.

Rob Reilly, WPP chief creative officer and commissioner of the Super Clio award, joined Al Roker, Sheinelle Jones, and Dylan Dryer following the big game to exclusively reveal the winner of the 2023 Super Clio, which is an award specifically for Super Bowl ads.

After reviewing a few of the other memorable ads, some of which were on USA Today’s list too, such as Workday “Rockstar,” Google “Fixed on Pixel,” and Hellman’s “Who’s in the Fridge,” Reilly revealed the top spot went to Tubi’s “Rabbit Hole.”

Wow. Talk about making an impression. Not just on viewers, some of whom I’m sure will be scarred for life by it, but also to nab such a prestigious award!

Did Tubi’s rabbit hole commercial make an impression on you too? What were some of your other favorite Super Bowl 2023 commercials? We’d love to hear your thoughts. Let us know in the comments!