Super Bowl MVPs always say they’re ‘going to Disney World’… but how did two famed test pilots launch the celebrated marketing campaign with Giants QB Phil Simms in 1987?
- Super Bowl MVPs get paid to say they’re going to Disney after they win the game
- The marketing campaign goes back to 1987 and two famous pilots
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Super Bowl MVPs are famously asked to exclaim “I’m Going to Disney World” or “Disneyland” after winning the big game, but how did the celebrated marketing phrase come about?
As explained by TikTok user Frank Hrelja in a recent viral post, the seed for the famous campaign was first planted in early 1987 by pilots Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager.
The year before, Rutan and Yeager made history by completing the first nonstop flight around the world without fuel and returning safely to Edwards Air Force Base in California after the nine-day journey.
Shortly after their historic journey, Rutan and Yeager (no relation to pilot Chuck Yeager) sat at a dinner with Disney CEO Michael Eisner and his wife Jane, who asked about their future plans: “What are you going to do next?”
In a humorous moment, Rutan and Yeager said they were going to Disneyland, which gave the Eisners an idea.
Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager were the first pilots to fly around the world on one gas tank
Phil Simms became known as the first to say: ‘I’m going to Disney’ after Super Bowl XXI
“That sentence would make an incredible marketing slogan,” Hrelja said.
With weeks to go in the lead-up to Super Bowl XXI, Disney reached out to the two quarterbacks taking part in the big game: John Elway of the Denver Broncos and Phil Simms of the New York Giants.
The offer was simple: the winner of the game would get $50,000, provided he agreed to deliver the now-famous line to a Disney camera crew after victory.
So when Simms’ Giants’ 39-20 win in Pasadena’s Rose Bowl, he was approached by Disney cameramen, who asked, “What are you going to do now?”
Tom Brady shows up at Disney in 2004 after winning Super Bowl MVP days earlier
Mickey Mouse with Super Bowl MVP and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes
Super Bowl MVP Hines Ward of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Mickey Mouse in 2006
Simms delivered his line flawlessly (“I’m going to Disney World”) and a legendary marketing campaign was born.
Nowadays, Super Bowl MVPs participate in a parade at Disney World or Disneyland after victory.
However, Super Bowl XXXV MVP Ray Lewis was not asked to join the campaign after being tried – and acquitted – on murder charges in Georgia.
Instead, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Trent Dilfer took the honor.
Tom Brady turned down the trip to Disney after Super Bowl LI, instead passing up the opportunity on James White.