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A nondescript stretch of State Road in Northeast Philadelphia was broadcast to millions of viewers around the globe in the Super Bowl LV commercial starring Four Seasons Total Landscaping.
The ad for Fiverr, an online marketplace that connects freelancers to businesses with available gigs, is set in the now-infamous parking lot where Rudy Giuliani held a Trump campaign press conference just as the race was being called for President Joe Biden.
With the tagline “Small biz goes big,” the SB55 spot features Total Landscaping co-owner Marie Siravo herself.
The family-owned business seized on their unexpected fame and turned it into a positive opportunity, launching a line of merchandise, joking with fans on social media, and collaborating with the West Philadelphia Skills Initiative on a paid training program for city residents looking to get into the industry.
Fiverr picks up on that entrepreneurial spirit in the ad, which should be the new go-to when people are looking for a good example of the Philadelphia accent.
The spot starts with Siravo out back behind her business. “Success,” she says, “It’s often right place, right time.”
As she walks inside, she continues the lesson: “What opportunity knocks at your corrugated garage door, you roll that puppy up!” Siravo drives a vehicle through a Deep Space 9-style corridor, touting various reasons you might want to hire freelancers.
“Or even a PR expert,” she says, “for things like, I dunno — booking a press conference?”
The camera pans and zooms to the top of a giant indoor greenhouse, where the Total Landscaping staff is apparently hard at work. There are topiaries and flowers all around. In the extended version of the ad, Siravo’s son pops up from below ground. “Mom,” he shouts. “We did it! We found the fifth season!”
And the kicker: a woman business traveler walks through the greenhouse area and asks, “Is this the lobby?”
“This is not a hotel!” Siravo shouts back. (Donald Trump first mistakenly tweeted that the November press conference was at the Four Seasons Hotel in Center City — which is known for having tons of flowers throughout.)
Fiverr also revamped the family business’ website, and produced a behind the scenes video.
Since the November weekend that put it on the global map, the 29-year-old family gardening business has been featured in a viral charity run, become a popular site for proposals and engagement photos, been turned into international sculpture art, and been written about in nearly major English language news publication, plus many others.
With more than 100 million viewers expected, the Super Bowl is Total Landscaping’s biggest splash yet.
