Bill Murray’s Super Bowl Email Draws Confusion

My email to Bill Murray didn’t go as planned.

Sunday’s crush of Super Bowl ads included a 15-second Yahoo spot that featured Murray looking into the mirror and seeing a dog looking back at him. “Have you ever looked in the mirror and not seen yourself?” he asks. Then he holds up a notepad with his email address (billhimself@yahoo.com) and says: “I don’t think I need professional help, but a skilled amateur, maybe? A little help?”

The Hollywood Reporter sent Murray a message on Monday but received in return an invalid domain error. Another attempt returned the same result, and a third received no response at all.

A rep from Yahoo noted the issue could be related to certain email domains, and sure enough: An alternative sender received a response, subject line “The Growl From The Great Beyond,” which sees Murray alleging over several paragraphs that he has turned into a dog. “Where would you imagine a vet named Dr. Gerry, wearing a ‘Don’t Lick Me I’m Allergic’ button pinned to his scrubs, would send me?” Murray’s email reads. “Just take a guess and you’ll learn that the Darkest Hour is just before the dawn.”

The message encouraged recipients to respond to the email and was signed, “damn, a man in a jam, Bill.” The email also included a cryptic video message from Murray regarding his decision to get help from a veterinarian. When THR replied, Murray sent back an update that he’d gone to see a pet psychic and again asked for a response. Other accounts of the correspondence online report many iterations of this back-and-forth, with very few answers as to what it’s all about. Perhaps he really has turned into a dog!

Prior to the game, Yahoo said in a statement that their commercial was co-written by Murray in collaboration with his brother, Brian Doyle-Murray and frequent collaborator Mitch Glazer. The television spot was, per Yahoo, “just the beginning.”

As the dust settles on Sunday’s whirlwind of ad spots and sports, winners and losers are emerging (and not just the Philadelphia Eagles, who beat the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22).

This year’s big game supported perhaps a record number of celebrity ad spots: 57 of the 94 product ads that aired during the big game featured celebrity names, and many commercials had more than famous face. That’s up 22 percent from last year. Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that A-listers secured fees in the $3-$5 million range to star in a commercial during this year’s game, although cameo appearances earn less.

While there seems to be disagreement over how just how valuable the celebrity endorsements proved, several A-list led ads emerged on top. Glen Powell playing Goldilocks in an ad for Ram Trucks came in at number two, per TV market research company EDO‘s survey. Jeep’s “Freedom” spot with Harrison Ford also made the top 10, and Adam DeVine’s Cirkul water ad, Willem Dafoe and Catherine O’Hara’s Michelob Ultra ad and Drew Barrymore and Orlando Bloom’s MSC Cruises ad also performed well.