When Harry Met Sally’s most iconic scene gets a revamp

Among the Superbowl’s most talked about advert drops was a campaign by Hellmann’s, revisiting an unforgettable scene from ‘When Harry Met Sally’.

While we live in a golden era for television, with Severance, The White Lotus and Squid Game prompting organic fan homages, film remains a little underserved.

There’s still a lot of mileage then in mining the golden decades of cinema for nostalgia. And, the Super Bowl is the perfect mass culture vehicle for advertisers.

Hellmann's latest advert, ‘When Harry Met Sally’, reunites Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal to recreate the iconic Katz's Delicatessen scene from the classic 1989 rom-com of the same name. The advert, aired during the Super Bowl 2025, was created by the agency VML.

In the commercial, Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal reprise their beloved roles of Sally and Harry, respectively. The scene is set at Katz's Deli, the same location where the original scene was filmed 35 years ago. Sally, played by Meg Ryan, is seen sitting across from Harry, wearing his classic cable knit fisherman’s sweater.

As they celebrate their anniversary over a traditional deli lunch, Sally is displeased with her turkey sandwich until she adds a squeeze of Hellmann’s mayonnaise. The choice prompts Sally to recreate her iconic reaction from the original film, to the attention of fellow deli patrons, including actress Sydney Sweeney, who delivers the famous line, “I’ll have what she’s having”.

Our take

VML successfully captures the essence of the original scene while adding a product twist. The campaign brings back fond memories from the classic movie: utilising the triple threat of nostalgia, celebrity and humour.

The advert adds a little character development to the classic scene, with Crystal’s character now appearing amusingly weary of Ryan’s over-the-top outbursts. There’s also a novelty in how modern cinematography brings the scene into the 21st century.