February 6, 2026 • 12 mins
Rolling R's & Juicy Lips: Behind e.l.f.'s Telenovela Super Bowl Spectacle with Melissa McCarthy and Nicholas Gonzales and Ellen K
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, she is Corey Marchis Soto here the CMO
of ELF. Corey, congratulations on your Super Bowl commercial and movement.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Ellen, congratulations on being the voice that kicks off the commercial.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Well, thank you so much. I love being on Melissa
McCarthy's radio.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
So tell us you think of the spot, do tell well,
we love it.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Tell us how it all came to be.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
I know, Bad Bunny put the word out to anyone
who does know Spanish, you have four months to learn it,
and you answered the call.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
You know, if you go back to our first Super
Bowl commercial, do you remember Jennifer Coolidge's acceptance speech at
the Golden Globes where they asked her what is your
dream role? And she said, I want to play a dolphin.
We were the only ones who answered the dolphin call,
and we wrote a script that made her a dolphin
(00:51):
and put it in the Super Bowl. And fat forward
to this time when we're sitting watching SNL and Bad
Bunny's like putting down the cell for Americans to learn Spanish.
And at that moment, we were actually in the midst
of writing the scripts for our next series of telenovelas
we had already four under our belt, they were incredibly popular.
(01:14):
So we looked at each other and we said, we
don't know exactly what this means yet, but we're definitely
going to turn this into something meaningful and really make
it meaningful as a celebration to the Latin and Hispanic communities.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Definitely. And then it's all about the glow revivor lib oil,
but it's really.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
About Melissa macarty trying to learn Spanish from the most
handsome doctor in the world, Nicholas Gonzalez. Nick is here
with us, and Nick, you got the call to play
this doctor.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
With Melissa?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
What was the chemistry instant right away when you were
on set together.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
I got to say, anybody who's worked with Melissa will
probably say the same thing. She is everything you see,
all the joy, all the weird, awkward, fun moments. It
was all that and immediate just kind of took to
each other and making each other laugh in between. And
what's so great is being with someone like that who
just has so many ideas, you know, I mean, there's
a lot that didn't even make the cut.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
We ever see I'm hoping mistakes.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Well, we love doctor Tito, and of course Melissa McCarthy
and how did you How did you cast this?
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Corey? I mean what perfect casting?
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Well, when you are doing an absurdly funny piece, you
need an absurdly funny lead, and there is nobody more
absurdly funny than Melissa McCarty. Melissam McCarthy. They can't get
my end. Maybe I need more lip oil you plan
(02:48):
that we're setting out on this journey, Ellen, The number
one thing for Elf is we always put ourselves in
a room and dream big. Once we have an idea
that is tuned the elf into culture, then we take
the handcuffs off, we put our head in the stars,
and we say what if. And in that moment, we
had a what if with the team, and it was
actually Patrick O'Keeffe, our chief integrated marketing officer, and he
(03:11):
looked around and he goes, what if we could get
Melissa McCarthy And time stopped, Time absolutely stopped. All of
us just looked at each other and we're like, what if?
And then we dreamt about what that could look like.
And then as you go through that journey, you say, well,
if you're gonna make a telenovella, you need telenovella royalty.
(03:32):
Who better than a Tasi so it was very much
this dream moment, and then we said, and we need
to have Melissa paired with an incredible doctor who can
really show up in a meaningful way that is completely
relevant to his character. And obviously that's where Nick stepped in.
(03:53):
So we dreamt this cast up with our head and
the stars, and then we put our feet on the
ground and we made it a reality so perfect.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
It's just so perfect. And Nick, had you ever worked
with the Tati before?
Speaker 3 (04:05):
I had?
Speaker 4 (04:05):
And I was literally just about to say she was
the chef's kiss on this. You know, I think people
are just she appears so iconic, you know, especially in
this world, and has gotten outside of it, you know,
with the famous memes that it was. I had never
met her, and she's she's a total trip. And she
did obviously wonderful, but it was such the button at
(04:27):
the end, you know what they're Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
So you're the perfect doctor. I love the stash.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
I know that your dad was a surgeon and he
also had the stash.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
Yeah, pretty iconic look for him. I was kind of
repping dad there.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
And You're getting so much positive response, Corey on this commercial.
I'm seeing it everywhere. It's an ad week. It's all
over the internet. It's gone viral and congratulations, thank.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
You, and that is congrats to our cast, our writers,
our directors, our team, our I mean, this is a
true team effort and a parade of unicorns came together
to make this reel and Ellen. What is not out there,
which I think is important for your listeners to know,
is from the day we shot it the day we
delivered it to network was nine days. Nine days. Most
(05:20):
people take anywhere from twelve to eighteen months to do
what we did in nine days. So we redefined what
it means to have your finger on the pulse of culture,
to be right at the center of the cultural Zeitgeisten.
In order to do that, you can't plan a year
in advance. So in you know, we saw what was
(05:42):
happening in the world around us. We said, we have
to get as close to the moment as humanly possible,
and there are very few marketing engines that could deliver
that type of speed, what we call ELF speed. One
thing I do have to bring up that I think
is such a critical moment with you know, we call
elfa bold disruptor with a kind heart. I want to
go to the kind heart after the bold disruption of
(06:05):
nine days. When Nick got on set, he had a
stethoscope in a ziploc bag and sethoscope in a ziploc bag.
And finally I look at him and I'm like, Nick,
I need to know what's going on with the stethoscope
in the ziploc bag. And he shared with us that
(06:26):
his dad had passed earlier in the week and that
that was his dad's death. Goodness, And in that moment
I went directly to Tim, who was the director. I said, Tim,
I don't care what we have to do. That stethoscope
is making it into the shot. And at the end
of the piece, when when Melissa looks at Nick and says, gracias, doctor,
(06:49):
he's wearing his dad's stethoscope around his neck.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
That's so beautiful. We're crying and it was. It was awesome.
It was really awesome.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
And the funny thing is, you know, my brother's a
surgeon too, and one thing surgeons never do is the
stethoscope around their next it that's probably rolling over and
my brother's like, that's not true. But it was such
a great moment and the team. You know, one other
thing you won't hear is the behind the scenes of this,
I think when you have something that comes through this
wonderfully and like she said, so timely and you have
(07:17):
to move that quick. But the feeling on the set,
the crew, the cast, I mean, this was incredible. It
was so egalitarian. Anybody who had an idea or was
ready to work that was that team. And these guys
from what I hear, they're always using this group and
it was amazing. I've been in this business for close
to thirty years and that set was just so incredible
(07:39):
to be on.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
That's so fanta. Thank you here and you're blessed by
an angel the whole production. That's such a beautiful story.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Corey, thank you for sharing that with us and having
Nick and studio here, and it's just this has just
been a magical, really a magical moment in time.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Can we just talk about how handsome he is from.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Yeah, talk about it.
Speaker 4 (08:01):
We're talking about Patrick because I am looking at him
over here.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Well, I did learn this about Nick Corey.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
I don't know if you told you this story, but
when he was in high school, I think it was
his friends would call him p YT.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
The Michael Jackson song that was my college name. College Okay,
whenever you're the p y T. We're playing pretty. We
were playing p y T on this radio here and
I learned that that was his name, p YT. You
picked a good one.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
That is hilarious. When we were doing casting and every
time we would talk about the four main characters on
the set, we would say, Okay, we have Melissa, we
have a Tati, and we have the handsome doctor, and
we have the lip oil. And we never actually used
the name Nick. We always called him a handsome doctor.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
I'll take it at this age, I'll take it. Say
it Nick, say Doc Tor. We cannot give Melissa to
say that to save our lives.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
There right, we also have say we only say the
llen k Morning Show and roll that are.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
The ellen K Morning Show, trying to get Ellen Ellen. Oh.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
We just wanted to say congrats, congrats Corey, Congrats Patrick o'keef,
what a great idea you had.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
With Melissa, and congrats to you Nick.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
And I know your daddy's so proud of you looking
down at you from heaven.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
That is just such a beautiful story.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Well, we want all of your listeners to tune in
this Sunday to Peacock. We will be broadcasting the what
I will call the best commercial of the Super Bowl
by a wide margin.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
Yes, and I'm hoping some of that behind the scenes
comes out, because I mean Melissa was always on, you know,
and there was a take I'm not running there, but
there was a take where she bites on the I'm
putting the applicator on her in her request and then she's.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Just looking at me.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
She was.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
In her mouth.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
So maybe too hot for just honestly. We shot a
thirty minute movie that day.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
It's amazing us incredible in our Tim r director too.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Which the hardest part, Yeah, the hardest part by a
wide margin, was cutting it down to We have three versions,
the two minute, which we put out earlier this week,
then there's a sixty second that will go on TV
where we have you know, locations where we can put
the longer form, and then what we'll be airing at
the big Game, which we haven't released yet, is the
(10:32):
thirty second. And that was incredibly hard to do because
we had so much richness. It's like, how do you
cut this down to thirty second?
Speaker 4 (10:43):
Even the even the extras were amazing or like sassy Nurse,
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
It just you know what it sounds to me because
it just feels like something that was just meant to be.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Yeah. Absolutely, And you know one of our else who
happens to be my nephew, John Jenna, He's got this
great line that I repeat all the time, which is
it's hard to beat a team that's having a good time.
And that set was a darn good time. It was
a group of incredible people who were wildly talented who
(11:17):
got on set and the spirit and the energy was
nothing more than everybody just bring your best to this moment.
And everybody brought their best and we were laughing and
we had a great time, and the energy was right.
And the best work comes from that effusive optimism where
people are really collectively working to bring out the best
(11:38):
in one another.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
So true.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Well, Corey Marchie Soto, thank you so much, and thank
you for including me on Melissa's radio.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
And thank you Nick for coming in.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
Oh my pleasure.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
And we cannot wait to see this during the big game.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Thank you, Ellen. We appreciate everything you do every elfing day.
Speaker 4 (11:59):
You know. There was a lot of calls for promotions
for whoever came up with this spot all over the
Instagram account pep were like, whoever whoever did this needs
a raise. Oh, Corey, hopefully may hang on to you.
All right, she is Corey Marchis Soto here the CMO
of ELF. Corey, congratulations on your Super Bowl commercial and movement.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Ellen, congratulations on being the voice that kicks off the commercial.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Well, thank you so much. I love being on Melissa
McCarthy's radio.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
So tell us you think of the spot, do tell well,
we love it.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Tell us how it all came to be.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
I know, Bad Bunny put the word out to anyone
who does know Spanish, you have four months to learn it,
and you answered the call.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
You know, if you go back to our first Super
Bowl commercial, do you remember Jennifer Coolidge's acceptance speech at
the Golden Globes where they asked her what is your
dream role? And she said, I want to play a dolphin.
We were the only ones who answered the dolphin call,
and we wrote a script that made her a dolphin
(00:51):
and put it in the Super Bowl. And fat forward
to this time when we're sitting watching SNL and Bad
Bunny's like putting down the cell for Americans to learn Spanish.
And at that moment, we were actually in the midst
of writing the scripts for our next series of telenovelas
we had already four under our belt, they were incredibly popular.
(01:14):
So we looked at each other and we said, we
don't know exactly what this means yet, but we're definitely
going to turn this into something meaningful and really make
it meaningful as a celebration to the Latin and Hispanic communities.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Definitely. And then it's all about the glow revivor lib oil,
but it's really.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
About Melissa macarty trying to learn Spanish from the most
handsome doctor in the world, Nicholas Gonzalez. Nick is here
with us, and Nick, you got the call to play
this doctor.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
With Melissa?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
What was the chemistry instant right away when you were
on set together.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
I got to say, anybody who's worked with Melissa will
probably say the same thing. She is everything you see,
all the joy, all the weird, awkward, fun moments. It
was all that and immediate just kind of took to
each other and making each other laugh in between. And
what's so great is being with someone like that who
just has so many ideas, you know, I mean, there's
a lot that didn't even make the cut.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
We ever see I'm hoping mistakes.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Well, we love doctor Tito, and of course Melissa McCarthy
and how did you How did you cast this?
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Corey? I mean what perfect casting?
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Well, when you are doing an absurdly funny piece, you
need an absurdly funny lead, and there is nobody more
absurdly funny than Melissa McCarty. Melissam McCarthy. They can't get
my end. Maybe I need more lip oil you plan
(02:48):
that we're setting out on this journey, Ellen, The number
one thing for Elf is we always put ourselves in
a room and dream big. Once we have an idea
that is tuned the elf into culture, then we take
the handcuffs off, we put our head in the stars,
and we say what if. And in that moment, we
had a what if with the team, and it was
actually Patrick O'Keeffe, our chief integrated marketing officer, and he
(03:11):
looked around and he goes, what if we could get
Melissa McCarthy And time stopped, Time absolutely stopped. All of
us just looked at each other and we're like, what if?
And then we dreamt about what that could look like.
And then as you go through that journey, you say, well,
if you're gonna make a telenovella, you need telenovella royalty.
(03:32):
Who better than a Tasi so it was very much
this dream moment, and then we said, and we need
to have Melissa paired with an incredible doctor who can
really show up in a meaningful way that is completely
relevant to his character. And obviously that's where Nick stepped in.
(03:53):
So we dreamt this cast up with our head and
the stars, and then we put our feet on the
ground and we made it a reality so perfect.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
It's just so perfect. And Nick, had you ever worked
with the Tati before?
Speaker 3 (04:05):
I had?
Speaker 4 (04:05):
And I was literally just about to say she was
the chef's kiss on this. You know, I think people
are just she appears so iconic, you know, especially in
this world, and has gotten outside of it, you know,
with the famous memes that it was. I had never
met her, and she's she's a total trip. And she
did obviously wonderful, but it was such the button at
(04:27):
the end, you know what they're Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
So you're the perfect doctor. I love the stash.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
I know that your dad was a surgeon and he
also had the stash.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
Yeah, pretty iconic look for him. I was kind of
repping dad there.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
And You're getting so much positive response, Corey on this commercial.
I'm seeing it everywhere. It's an ad week. It's all
over the internet. It's gone viral and congratulations, thank.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
You, and that is congrats to our cast, our writers,
our directors, our team, our I mean, this is a
true team effort and a parade of unicorns came together
to make this reel and Ellen. What is not out there,
which I think is important for your listeners to know,
is from the day we shot it the day we
delivered it to network was nine days. Nine days. Most
(05:20):
people take anywhere from twelve to eighteen months to do
what we did in nine days. So we redefined what
it means to have your finger on the pulse of culture,
to be right at the center of the cultural Zeitgeisten.
In order to do that, you can't plan a year
in advance. So in you know, we saw what was
(05:42):
happening in the world around us. We said, we have
to get as close to the moment as humanly possible,
and there are very few marketing engines that could deliver
that type of speed, what we call ELF speed. One
thing I do have to bring up that I think
is such a critical moment with you know, we call
elfa bold disruptor with a kind heart. I want to
go to the kind heart after the bold disruption of
(06:05):
nine days. When Nick got on set, he had a
stethoscope in a ziploc bag and sethoscope in a ziploc bag.
And finally I look at him and I'm like, Nick,
I need to know what's going on with the stethoscope
in the ziploc bag. And he shared with us that
(06:26):
his dad had passed earlier in the week and that
that was his dad's death. Goodness, And in that moment
I went directly to Tim, who was the director. I said, Tim,
I don't care what we have to do. That stethoscope
is making it into the shot. And at the end
of the piece, when when Melissa looks at Nick and says, gracias, doctor,
(06:49):
he's wearing his dad's stethoscope around his neck.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
That's so beautiful. We're crying and it was. It was awesome.
It was really awesome.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
And the funny thing is, you know, my brother's a
surgeon too, and one thing surgeons never do is the
stethoscope around their next it that's probably rolling over and
my brother's like, that's not true. But it was such
a great moment and the team. You know, one other
thing you won't hear is the behind the scenes of this,
I think when you have something that comes through this
wonderfully and like she said, so timely and you have
(07:17):
to move that quick. But the feeling on the set,
the crew, the cast, I mean, this was incredible. It
was so egalitarian. Anybody who had an idea or was
ready to work that was that team. And these guys
from what I hear, they're always using this group and
it was amazing. I've been in this business for close
to thirty years and that set was just so incredible
(07:39):
to be on.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
That's so fanta. Thank you here and you're blessed by
an angel the whole production. That's such a beautiful story.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Corey, thank you for sharing that with us and having
Nick and studio here, and it's just this has just
been a magical, really a magical moment in time.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Can we just talk about how handsome he is from.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Yeah, talk about it.
Speaker 4 (08:01):
We're talking about Patrick because I am looking at him
over here.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Well, I did learn this about Nick Corey.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
I don't know if you told you this story, but
when he was in high school, I think it was
his friends would call him p YT.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
The Michael Jackson song that was my college name. College Okay,
whenever you're the p y T. We're playing pretty. We
were playing p y T on this radio here and
I learned that that was his name, p YT. You
picked a good one.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
That is hilarious. When we were doing casting and every
time we would talk about the four main characters on
the set, we would say, Okay, we have Melissa, we
have a Tati, and we have the handsome doctor, and
we have the lip oil. And we never actually used
the name Nick. We always called him a handsome doctor.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
I'll take it at this age, I'll take it. Say
it Nick, say Doc Tor. We cannot give Melissa to
say that to save our lives.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
There right, we also have say we only say the
llen k Morning Show and roll that are.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
The ellen K Morning Show, trying to get Ellen Ellen. Oh.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
We just wanted to say congrats, congrats Corey, Congrats Patrick o'keef,
what a great idea you had.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
With Melissa, and congrats to you Nick.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
And I know your daddy's so proud of you looking
down at you from heaven.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
That is just such a beautiful story.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Well, we want all of your listeners to tune in
this Sunday to Peacock. We will be broadcasting the what
I will call the best commercial of the Super Bowl
by a wide margin.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
Yes, and I'm hoping some of that behind the scenes
comes out, because I mean Melissa was always on, you know,
and there was a take I'm not running there, but
there was a take where she bites on the I'm
putting the applicator on her in her request and then she's.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Just looking at me.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
She was.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
In her mouth.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
So maybe too hot for just honestly. We shot a
thirty minute movie that day.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
It's amazing us incredible in our Tim r director too.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Which the hardest part, Yeah, the hardest part by a
wide margin, was cutting it down to We have three versions,
the two minute, which we put out earlier this week,
then there's a sixty second that will go on TV
where we have you know, locations where we can put
the longer form, and then what we'll be airing at
the big Game, which we haven't released yet, is the
(10:32):
thirty second. And that was incredibly hard to do because
we had so much richness. It's like, how do you
cut this down to thirty second?
Speaker 4 (10:43):
Even the even the extras were amazing or like sassy Nurse,
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
It just you know what it sounds to me because
it just feels like something that was just meant to be.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Yeah. Absolutely, And you know one of our else who
happens to be my nephew, John Jenna, He's got this
great line that I repeat all the time, which is
it's hard to beat a team that's having a good time.
And that set was a darn good time. It was
a group of incredible people who were wildly talented who
(11:17):
got on set and the spirit and the energy was
nothing more than everybody just bring your best to this moment.
And everybody brought their best and we were laughing and
we had a great time, and the energy was right.
And the best work comes from that effusive optimism where
people are really collectively working to bring out the best
(11:38):
in one another.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
So true.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Well, Corey Marchie Soto, thank you so much, and thank
you for including me on Melissa's radio.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
And thank you Nick for coming in.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
Oh my pleasure.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
And we cannot wait to see this during the big game.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Thank you, Ellen. We appreciate everything you do every elfing day.
Speaker 4 (11:59):
You know. There was a lot of calls for promotions
for whoever came up with this spot all over the
Instagram account pep were like, whoever whoever did this needs
a raise. Oh, Corey, hopefully may hang on to you.
Ellen K Morning Show On Demand News
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