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'Mean' Joe Greene, Coca Cola Ad Co-Star Kid Meet 36 Years Later

'Mean' Joe Greene, Coca Cola Ad Co-Star Kid Meet 36 Years Later

"Mean" Joe Greene. (AP Photo/Scott Boehm)

By    |   Friday, 29 January 2016 12:25 PM EST

"Mean" Joe Greene of the Pittsburg Steelers was handed a Coca Cola by a 9-year-old fan in a famous 1980 Super Bowl ad, and now, decades later, the two have reunited.

The occasion for the rendezvous came as part of the filming for a CBS retrospective, "The Super Bowl's Greatest Commercials 2016," People magazine reported Thursday. 

In the newly publicized clip, Tommy Okon, now a grown man, meets up with the football legend at Apogee Stadium in Denton, Texas.

They laugh together remembering back to when they shot the famous commercial.

"I didn't know any better. I chugged the doggone thing over and over and over," Greene said, admitting he drained 18 bottles of Coke before the producers were satisfied.

The commercial debuted in 1979 as part of the beverage giant's "Have a Coke and a Smile" ad campaign, and aired to millions during Super Bowl XIV in 1980.

As AJC.com reported, "Greene rose to NFL stardom in the ’70s as a stalwart member of the 'Steel Curtain' defense that helped propel the Pittsburgh Steelers to four Super Bowl wins in six years."

Starring in the Coke commercial made him even more famous.

Greene pointed to Okon when their interviewer asked why they thought the commercial became so famous.

"I don't know about that," Okon said humbly. "I think the people that created it wrote a great commercial that really tells a story ... that commercial's kind of what Joe is: tough, football player, who's a nice guy."

The full footage of Greene and Okon's meet up will air as part of CBS's upcoming special.



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TheWire
"Mean" Joe Greene of the Pittsburg Steelers was handed a Coca Cola by a 9-year-old fan in a famous 1980 Super Bowl ad, and now, decades later, the two have reunited.
mean joe greene, coca cola, ad
266
2016-25-29
Friday, 29 January 2016 12:25 PM
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