EXCLUSIVE: Seal becomes a seal in trippy Super Bowl ad for Mountain Dew

Yahoo

08-02-2025

Seal, known for hit songs like "Kiss from a Rose" and "Crazy," is bringing new meaning to his name this year in a Mountain Dew Super Bowl ad, revealed exclusively on TODAY Feb. 5.
The "Kiss from a Lime" campaign ad begins with Mountain Dew's Mountain Dude, who is known for his tall build, long hair, giant lime green jacket and sunglasses.
The Mountain Dude slides across the table of Becky G's kitchen, offering her a bottle of Mountain Dew Baja Blast, which features a tropical lime flavor. She accepts the bottle and takes a sip.
Becky G's action of taking a gulp immediately sends her through a portal of some sort, landing her in a boat (with the Mountain Dude) floating in the waters of 'Baja Beach.'
The Mountain Dude, Becky G and her crew stare out at a rock covered in singing seals performing an alternate rendition of Seal's "Kiss from a Rose."
Instead of the song's original lyrics, which begin with "ba-ya-ya, ba-da-da-da-da-da, ba-ya-ya," the seals sing "baja, baja, baja, baja."
But there's one seal that stands out among the rest.
The seal on the top of the rock lifts his head up to sing the main melody of the song, and it's revealed that Seal's face has been edited onto the body of a seal.
Confused? Well, it seems Seal, the artist, has transformed himself into the actual animal for this ad.
Seal tells TODAY.com that when he first saw his face edited onto an actual seal's body, he thought it was a bit cliche but still funny.
'I did have to laugh because it was done in, kind of in good humor. ... There are aspects and parts of my life that are really serious, that require focus and responsibility and accountability,' he says. 'And so, anytime I get a chance to laugh and make fun of myself with a meme that was with my head on a seal, I mean, it's hilarious and it's a good antidote of relief to the seriousness of life."
Putting his face on an animal isn't the only thing Seal has changed for the ad: He altered the lyrics to his 1994 song "Kiss from a Rose" as well.
In the three decades since the song's release, Seal says he feels "really fortunate" that it still resonates with people.
"I'm a kid from a working-class area of London born in the '60s with nothing but a lot of dreams and a voice," he says. "And so, if you'd have told me I would have one song, just one song that would make such a difference and turn out to be an iconic song that most people around the world know, well ... it's amazing. I don't take one bit for granted."
The new lyrics in the ad replace romantic themes with Mountain Dew-inspired words.
"Baby, I compare it to a kiss from a lime, on the bay," Seal sings.
He then addresses the oddity of him being an actual seal in the ad.
"Ooh, the more I think of it, it's strange I'm a seal, yeah," Seal, 61, sings.
"My flippers can't hold Mountain Dew, what a shame," the four-time Grammy winner continues as a bottle of Mountain Dew slips through his flippers.
The camera then zooms out and two orcas are seen jumping up from behind the rock, making giant splashes in the water as a volcano erupts in the background.
The commercial closes with a shot of the boat, where Seal (now in human form once more) is relaxing cross-legged in the back behind Becky G and her friends, a Mountain Dew in hand.
"Good-looking seal," he says.
The ad, which was directed by "Jojo Rabbit" director Taika Waititi, will air during the second quarter of the Super Bowl on Feb. 9.
Seal says Waititi is one of his 'idols.'
"I love his work, and I love him as a person," he says. "I think he's even more impressive as a person. So, I got to work with him, that was fun. And he really took care of me, which is a big thing. It was just a professional cast."
Seal's enjoyment on set wasn't the only thing he liked about doing the ad. He hopes his kids, whom he said on TODAY Feb. 5 have been sending him a meme of the ad to try and "humiliate" him, find pride in his performance.
'They've seen a few runs of it,' Seal tells TODAY.com. 'Obviously not the final edit, but they've seen it, and, you know, they make fun of me, they laugh but I think inside they're really proud.'
This article was originally published on TODAY.com