Even if you’re not a sports fan, one thing to get excited about is Super Bowl commercials! If you can’t wait until the Super Bowl to see an ad, we’ve got you covered. Squarespace released a director’s cut of their pre-game spot. In the commercial, John Malkovich hilariously battles the internet as he tries and fails to register a domain name for his fashion brand. What’s the problem? There’s another John Malkovich, and he snatched up the domain first.

As for what’s going to air during the game, viewers will see a 60-second version of the commercial pre-game and another 30-second commercial during the game, encouraging them to use Squarespace to register their domain names before they’re gone. The second commercial is a continuation of the first.

If you’re launching a new business venture or transitioning from acting to fashion designing like John Malkovich, it makes sense to register your name as a domain. He tries to do that in the commercial, only to discover it’s taken and belongs to an avid fisher with the same name. Oops. He then drafts a strongly worded email full of expletives to the other John Malkovich.

Squarespace

Who is this other John Malkovich? Did he see Being John Malkovich and decide to try the name out for himself, or does he just have the same name and a passion for fishing? The meta commercial gives a nod to the movie and Malkovich’s real life experience of trying to register a domain for his menswear collection only to find that it wasn’t available.

This isn’t the type of commercial that you’ll be laughing about for weeks, and it’s not meant to be. Viewers who catch the meta references will appreciate the wry humor, and those who don’t will think it’s a quirky commercial about registering domain names. Check out the 77-second director’s cut below.

Who is JohnMalkovich.com?

In addition to domain name registration, Squarespace offers website building, blogging platforms and hosting service. This isn’t the first collaboration between Malkovich and Squarespace. Both were involved with Playing Lynch, and he used Squarespace to present his menswear collection.

The creative team behind the commercial included award-winning creative collective JohnXHannes New York, Smuggler and Flower Ave. The commercials were directed by Miles Jay and photographed by Zach Gold.