Pop Culture | TV | 80s | 70s

Almost 40 Years Later The Stars Of This Classic Commercial Reunited

If you grew up in the 70s or 80s you'll instantly recognize this classic ad for Coca-Cola.

The commercial, which features Pittsburgh Steelers star "Mean" Joe Greene giving his jersey to a young fan, has become one of the most famous Superbowl ads of all time. To this day, fans of Greene's still repeat his famous line "Hey kid, catch!" and he's probably more famous for the 60 second ad than his actual football career.

That's why last year CBS surprised the athlete by reuniting him with actor Tommy Okon, who played the fan in the commercial when he was just 9 years old.

The reunion was the first time in 36 years the two men had seen each other, and you can tell from Greene's tears that it was an emotional moment.

The pair even recreated their famous ad, with Okon - now 45 - joking that "somehow, I look older than you now."

While they obviously had fun, filming the original commercial wasn't so pleasant for Greene. It took 3 days to film the short ad, and Greene says he drank 18 cokes to get the famous shot just right.

Thankfully all that hard work paid off. The commercial won a Clio (the Oscars of advertising) and it's still remembered as one of the best ads of all time.

CBS

As for why it's so popular, Okon gives all the credit to Greene and the ad's writers, saying that they perfectly captured the football star's personality.

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