Alicia Silverstone, Northport's Elisa Donovan star in 'Clueless'-themed ad
Alicia Silverstone reprises her "Clueless" role of shopping-obsessed Cher Horowitz in a Rakuten commercial airing during Sunday's Super Bowl. Credit: Rakuten Rewards via AP
In a new Super Bowl commercial, iconic "Clueless" star Alicia Silverstone and her Northport-raised co-star Elisa Donovan reunite as their high school characters from Amy Heckerling’s classic 1995 comedy.
In an extended, 1-minute version of what will be a 30-second on-air spot Sunday for the shopping app Rakuten, Silverstone’s Cher Horowitz strides up to a lectern in her classroom for a debate with Donovan's Amber Mariens.
"I used to be pretty clueless about shopping," Cher begins.
"Among other things," Amber retorts.
Ignoring her with a talk-to-the-hand gesture, Cher barrels on in her Valley Girl patois: "Like, when I heard I could save by getting cash back with Rakuten, I was, like, 'As if!' But then I was, like, 'Uhh! Why didn't I do this sooner?' "
She continues to extol the virtues of the app in a cutaway to a re-creation of her character's bedroom in the movie, although now with a closet containing a mechanized clothes rack. We see her walking down a street, holding shopping bags, and then in the driveway of the character's house — where Cher, driving an SUV, has backed into the side of a delivery van and rolled over some of the copious packages spread all over the ground.
"Who put that there?" she wonderers — cluelessly.
Back in the classroom, Cher concludes one would have to be "crazy to shop without Rakuten." The students applaud — including one played by fashion designer Christian Siriano, who for the commercial updated costume designer Mona May's wardrobe. He makes a heart shape with his hands and mouths to Cher, "I love you."
"Um, hello? Do I even get a rebuttal?" asks Amber. Replies Cher, "I'm sure it would be 're-brutal.' " Amber can only answer with a word the movie made infamous: "Whatever."
"I think most of us would agree that 'Cher' is one of film history's most iconic shoppers, so when Rakuten approached me to reprise the role for their Super Bowl spot, I thought it was a great idea," said Silverstone, 46, in a statement. "Cher was always figuring out how to get what she wanted in the most clever ways, so I think Rakuten would really appeal to her — getting cash back for doing her favorite activity. I imagine her running to her dad to boast about how much she saved and declaring 'as if' when asked if she ever shopped without using Rakuten."
"Ran into an old frenemy the other day," wrote 1989 Northport High School graduate Donovan, 52, in a paid-partnership post on social media Monday. "Here’s a little BTS [behind the scenes] from the big game commercial with @aliciasilverstone. Spoiler alert: it’s going to be fabulous — kind of like shopping with @rakuten."
