Billy Idol’s “Really Fun” Super Bowl commercial for workday criticizes corporate America

• Even though Billy Idol is well-known for his rock star antics, trashing hotel rooms across 43 nations.
• “White Wedding” punk rocker enjoys making light of his rebellious behavior.
• The British punk rocker used the clip as an opportunity to consider his life’s journey.

Even though Billy Idol is well-known for his rock star antics, trashing hotel rooms across 43 nations? Even for him, that is a bit of a stretch.

Nevertheless, the 67-year-old “White Wedding” punk rocker enjoys making light of his rebellious behavior, including the maybe fewer than 43 destroyed hotel rooms, and does it in a brand-new Super Bowl commercial for Workday.

Idol is joined by rockers Ozzy Osbourne, Joan Jett, Paul Stanley, and Gary Clark Jr. in the amusing short as they embark on a mission to recover the term “Rockstar” from corporate America, where it’s frequently used to describe exceptional employees.

“It’s really fun to poke fun at yourselves,” he tells news. “Ozzy, I, Joan and Paul, we all have kind of very identifiable images, so it’s fun. I enjoyed that in The Wedding Singer, taking my persona and having fun with it. I enjoyed that then, and it’s really fun doing the Super Bowl commercial.”

The rocker goes on: “If you can’t see that what we’re doing has a humorous element, then I think we’re doing it horribly wrong. Even while we take ourselves seriously, there is undoubtedly some humor present. A popular English past time is making fun of others.”

Idol, who was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last month, makes an appearance in the advertisement in a hotel room that has been destroyed. He throws a lamp through the TV and declares, “I damaged hotel rooms in 43 countries,” before strolling down the hallway holding a chainsaw.

In other scenes of the video, Stanley interrupts a corporate meeting in full KISS gear to make sure that no CEOs are referring to their employees as “Rockstar’s,” as they haven’t earned the right to do so. Clark also displays his impressive guitar talents to “Liz in HR.”

“It’s a bit of an exaggeration, but I did have my moments breaking up hotel rooms in the late ’80s,” Idol says of revisiting his wild ways. “We did that back then and it was a lot of fun at times, but I don’t do things like that anymore. It may not have been 43, but I did my fair share.”

The British punk rocker used the clip as an opportunity to consider his life’s journey. He claims he was reminded that working a desk job and sitting in a cubicle was “exactly what we were trying to avoid” by choosing music as a vocation.

“Back in the ’70s in England, they were really telling you there was no future, there aren’t any jobs. That’s what they were telling us. So we had to create our own future, and I think one of the ways we could do it was by… I love music, so I just decided I’m going to be in a rock group, whether I make it or not,” he says. “Whatever happens, I don’t care. I’m just going to do it. If it lasts six months, okay. If it lasts a year, great. If it lasts two years, amazing. And here we are 47 years later. It just shows you, if you do the thing you love sometimes, it pays off. It’s a gamble, but all life’s a gamble.”

Although Idol missed out on spending time with his rocker mates on site, he did have to meet Sharon Osbourne.

I’ve known Ozzy, Paul, and Joan for a very long time because we once shared a manager, he claims. “It was entertaining. It should be a little entertaining in the middle of the Super Bowl, in my opinion.”

When the Philadelphia Eagles play the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII on February 12 in Glendale, Arizona, the Idol commercial for Workday will be shown.

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