At a Glance
- Elijah Wood will perform a live Skittles commercial on one fan’s lawn during Super Bowl Sunday
- The ad won’t air on TV; instead, it will be livestreamed on Skittles’ social media channels
- Fans can enter for a chance to host the performance at DeliverTheRainbow.com from Jan. 13-21
- Why it matters: This marks a bold shift in Super Bowl advertising, swapping multi-million-dollar TV spots for a single, personalized live performance
Elijah Wood is stepping into a new kind of spotlight-one that doesn’t involve a red carpet or a movie screen. The actor, best known for playing Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings, will star in a live Skittles commercial performed on a fan’s front lawn during Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 8.
Unlike traditional ads, this one won’t air on television. Instead, Skittles will livestream the performance on its social media platforms, including Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.
A Magical Creature Summoned by a Horn
Wood tells News Of Losangeles he plays “a magical creature that can be summoned by a horn to deliver Skittles.”
The character, he explains, is trapped in a loop. Every time a teenager blows the horn, Wood’s creature is forced to appear and hand over Skittles-no matter what he’s doing.
“The tragedy of the character is that he gets ripped from his everyday life every time this teenager blows the horn and he has no free will; he has no control over it,” Wood says. “The sadness of the character is he’s just locked into this fate of having to deliver Skittles with this horn blast.”
The 44-year-old actor says he was drawn to the campaign by “the audacity of it.”
“This idea of performing a live ad on someone’s lawn at some random place in the United States was just really thrilling and fun,” he adds. “And also a little scary, we’ve got to deliver.”
A Longtime Fan of Skittles Ads
Wood isn’t just a hired face-he’s a genuine fan of the brand’s advertising.
“I’m a giant Skittles ad fan,” he says. “I think the ads are incredibly funny, they’re often quite left of center and strange. There’s a sort of tinge of tragedy with a lot of their characters. And I just feel like they take really wild risks, they don’t play by any rules in terms of how you’re supposed to be and I think that’s what makes their ads so fun and I think what makes the brand so fun.”
He cites the brand’s unconventional tone as a major draw.
“They don’t play by any rules,” he says. “That’s what makes their ads so fun.”
Super Bowl Sunday: Ads Over Athletics
Though Wood admits he’s “not a massive sports fan,” he still tunes into the Super Bowl every year.
“There’s some drama involved,” he says. “There’s an underdog generally, hopefully, and that’s when it gets interesting, so I tend to focus on that. But really, truthfully, I like to watch on that day specifically for the ads because the ads are always so interesting and surprising.”
This year, he’ll be part of that surprise.
How Fans Can Enter
From January 13-21, fans can visit DeliverTheRainbow.com to enter for a chance to have Wood perform the live ad on their lawn.
The performance will take place on Sunday, Feb. 8, and will be livestreamed during the Super Bowl on Skittles’ social media accounts:
- Instagram: @skittles
- TikTok: @skittles
- Facebook: @skittles
Fans can also pre-order the Skittles Big Game Bundle on Gopuff.
From Middle-earth to Front Lawns
Wood is no stranger to fan interactions, especially from his Lord of the Rings days.
“Very common is if they have a ring, for me to hold their ring or to reenact putting on the ring, or they’ll have the ring and want me to reach for it,” he says. “Something involving a ring, generally.”
The most quoted line? “All right, then, keep your secrets.”
A Recent Return to TV
Wood recently appeared as a fictionalized version of himself on HBO’s I Love LA.
“I ran into people all the time that were watching the show and loving the show and really loved the episode,” he says. “It was lovely to be a part of.”
He confirms he doesn’t share the character’s quirks-like using an elaborate mnemonic device to remember things.
“I don’t have a memory problem. I don’t need to utilize the Memory Palace trick to remember things,” he says. “Although I am really bad at remembering people’s names, traditionally that is true.”
Key Takeaways
- Elijah Wood will perform a live Skittles ad on a fan’s lawn during Super Bowl Sunday
- The ad won’t air on TV-it’ll be livestreamed on Skittles’ social media
- Fans can enter to host the performance at DeliverTheRainbow.com from Jan. 13-21
- Wood plays a magical creature forced to deliver Skittles every time a horn is blown
- The campaign continues Skittles’ tradition of weird, risky, and emotional ads
