In once was the ultimate bit of stunt campaigning, all of the major streaming services — Amazon, Hulu, Netflix and CBS All Access — took advantage of the Super Bowl to promote upcoming series. That included Amazon Prime Video’s Hanna, Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale for the third straight year, Netflix’s beautiful Our Planet and CBS All Access’ The Twilight Zone, delivered by creator Jordan Peele with a clever twist.

This year’s host broadcast network, CBS, also promoted a fair number of its own shows during what felt like a slow game between the New England Patriots and the LA Rams, including The Big Bang Theory, Man With A Plan, NCIS and Young Sheldon. And the LA Lakers’ LeBron James made a cameo appearance in a spot for CBS’ new reality show, executive produced by James, Million Dollar Mile.

CBS also grabbed viewers’ attention when the broadcast seemed like it was returning to the game, suddenly flashed “CBS is off the air,” and proceeded to show an empty stadium. Jordan Peele soon showed up with an eerie spot for his version of The Twilight Zone, coming up on CBS All Access.

The spot for The Twilight Zone was shot overnight last month at Mercedez-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga., with the symbolic Twilight Zone door created and assembled on the 50-yard line.

The Twilight Zone’s first two episodes drop on Monday, April 1, with the rest of the episodes appearing every Thursday on the streaming service starting April 11.

CBS All Access also aired a promo for Star Trek: Discovery, which is currently dropping new episodes on Thursdays.

Starting Monday, CBS All Access is following up its two Super Bowl spots with the launch of its brand campaign, “It’s On,” which will run assets across digital, print, television and out-of-home platforms.

Hulu returned for the third straight year to promote the upcoming third season of its Emmy-winning The Handmaid’s Tale, which started off feeling like a commercial for Ronald Reagan’s America and ended with Offred (Elisabeth Moss) warning viewers, “wake up, America, morning’s over.”

Amazon also aired a spot in the Super Bowl, introducing new series, Hanna, to viewers. After the game, Amazon offered viewers a free preview for 24 hours before the thriller officially premieres in March.

RELATED: Amazon to Introduce ‘Hanna’ During Super Bowl LIII

Last year, Amazon shone the Super Bowl spotlight on Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, starring John Kraskinski.

Netflix went in a different direction this year, airing a trailer for its new nature docu-series, Our Planet (above), which looked especially good on 4K TVs.

HBO also made a big splash in the big game, partnering with Bud Light for this humorous spot in which the Bud Knight dies—Red Viper style—at the hand of the Mountain, played by the show’s actual Mountain. But even a Mountain is no match for a dragon, who flies in to set everything on fire.

Tags: amazon prime video cbs all access hanna hulu super bowl liii the handmaid's tale the twilight zone


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