John Malkovich is frustrated. He’s not being taken seriously as a fashion designer, and someone else has the domain name he wants.
Malkovich goes on a foul mouthed rant in a commercial during Super Bowl LI questioning how someone else could have the domain johnmalkovich.com. The series of ads for website management service provider Squarespace is a funny take on the often real frustration new companies have with trademarks and domain names.
The ads focuses on Malkovich’s discovery that a different John Malkovich, a fishing enthusiast, has registered the domain name johnmalkovich.com. The actor and now fashion designer John Malkovich wants it, and he is persistent. He even references his surreal 1999 film “Being John Malkovich.”
“There is a film about me being me,” he says in the ad.
It turns out that in real life John Malkovich has actually launched a clothing line, and he actually has the domain name that he covets during the commercial. And of course the website is “Powered by Squarespace.”