Terry Bradshaw, Jeffrey Tambor Star in Tide's Super Bowl 51 Commercial

For the fifth time in his Hall of Fame career, Terry Bradshaw was on the field for the Super Bowl. This time, though, Bradshaw wasn’t clad in black and gold, quarterbacking the Pittsburgh Steelers to a championship. Instead, midway through the second quarter, Bradshaw was running onto the field in the announcer’s uniform he’s worn for the last 32 years. Only this time, his white dress shirt had a massive stain. 

At least that’s how things played out for Bradshaw in one of the night’s off-the-field highlights, orchestrated from every angle by Tide. After creating a week of buzz with Gronk’s Cleaners, Tide took its game to the next level Sunday when Bradshaw appeared on camera late in the first quarter alongside Fox host Curt Menefee. But Bradshaw, as the world saw, had a distractingly obvious BBQ sauce stain on his shirt.

From there, social media reacted to the perceived error using the hashtag #BradshawStain, which came full circle in the second quarter when the commercial revealed the grand plan.

In the commercial, Menefee pointed out the stain’s appearance to Bradshaw, leading to a series of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it misadventures. There was Gronk, offering up his sleeveless dress shirt. Then Bradshaw hit the field, narrowly avoiding a bone-crunching hit before he drove off in a golf cart. Finally, after being run off the road, Bradshaw landed in the backyard of who else but Jeffrey Tambor.

The reluctant hero, Tambor saved the day for Bradshaw, cleaning his shirt and sending the analyst back on his way. The secret? Tide Pods plus Downy, the answer to the brand’s promise of “A Better Way.”

While the Patriots stand tall as Super Bowl champions, Tide won the night off the field thanks to its understanding of what resonates with fans on the biggest night of the year.

This article is sponsored by Tide.