Missy Elliott and Jack Harlow had a blast filming their Doritos Super Bowl LVII commercial. But according to the “Work It” legend, the hilarious 90-second spot just scratches the surface of the belly laughs they shared on set during their first-ever in-person meeting.
OK, sorry, that’s not true.
Missy realized while speaking to Billboard this week that they actually (almost) met before, but she just forgot. “I never met Jack before. Wait … lies,” Elliott laughed while recalling that she thought they had never crossed paths, but that Harlow reminded her on set that they were in the same studio years ago when he was an up-and-comer. While they didn’t connect then, she was blown away by how “sweet and kind” Harlow was during the shoot.
In a teaser ad released last week, Elliott chilled at her studio as Harlow called up looking for a collab, though Missy shot down the idea of a “love triangle” with the incredulous, “I don’t know about that.” Though the love triangle bit isn’t in the in the final cut, Missy said they “laughed as if we had met years back, especially when we had to keep doing those lines. It would be fun to do those bloopers of us doing the skit.”
The final product, though, has plenty of twists and surprises. Harlow said it was an honor to finally meet Elliott in person, describing her as someone who is “very special to me … super special. And, not for nothing, “completely down to Earth and an open book … she left me inspired.” He said they joked and laughed their way through the script about Jack discovering that the magic element his music is missing is a tasty triangle.
Of course that triangle looks like a Doritos chip, but in Jack’s mind, it’s transformed into a musical triangle, and when he threatens to quit hip-hop to pursue triangle greatness, Missy warns him that it’s a fool’s errand. “I gotta do me, Missy,” Harlow tells her in the ad titled “Jack’s New Angle.” Cut to Jack rocking an arena while hitting the ‘angle, teaching a room full of prodigies how to correctly strike the three-sided instrument and budding triangalists mobbing a music store that is suddenly sold out of the least respected percussion piece of an orchestra.
Thanks to Harlow, triangles become a worldwide phenomenon, and though he’s the pioneer, in the end Harlow loses out to none other than Sir Elton John — in a surprise cameo — for Triangle Player of the Year.
Harlow said it’s a “big honor” to be part of the big game for the first time, especially partnering with the maker of his favorite childhood snack on the ad. When reminded that Elliott played halftime with Katy Perry and Lenny Kravitz in 2015 and then went on to star in a 2020 Pepsi SB ad, Harlow said he would feel “blessed” if he could pull a reverse Missy and play the halftime show in the future. “I look up to her so much, so it was very special to me,” he said of their collab.
“We were laughing and joking and having a good time, but I also just wanted to hear stories about some of the things she did and where her head was at when she was making music early in her career,” he said of the between-shots chatter; Elliott said their downtime also included discussions of possibly getting together to work on another project in the future. As for the surprise John cameo, Harlow called it the “cherry on top … that’s an icon that reaches everyone and adds even more legitimacy to the ad. He’s so iconic and accomplished, a genius. I was thrilled that he a part of it.”
Though they did not meet in person, Harlow said being in an ad with John was “a nice start” and he’s confident they’ll meet in the future IRL. Harlow, who will make his big screen acting debut in the upcoming reboot of White Men Can’t Jump, said he was challenged at times to come up with some “different energy” on the shoot promoting the sweet and tangy BBQ Doritos line, but he appreciated the challenge.
Neither would reveal their pick to win the game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs, with Harlow saying he’s “messy” and just loves “drama,” so he would like to see a thrilling, overtime game. Elliott added that she doesn’t “want to get on nobody’s bad side,” so she’s keeping her pick mum and just gearing up to watch the game, and the commercial, of course.
“I will be up early to watch [the commercial],” Elliott said of her plans for Wednesday (Feb. 8), when the full spot drops. “I don’t think there’s a bigger platform of people that are watching you.”
Check out the full ad that will air on Sunday (Feb. 12) during the big game at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., above.