SUPER BOWL XLVI: Is Honda Behind the Ferris Bueller Resurrection?

Jalopnik Reports It Has Solved the Mystery of the YouTube Teaser

Ferris Bueller's back, and this time he's driving a Honda. Maybe.

The short-lived mystery about a Super Bowl ad teaser put up on YouTube Thursday may have been unraveled on Friday, when Jalopnik reported that Matthew Broderick's character, the sausage king of Chicago, would be central to a spot for the company's refreshed mini SUV, the 2013 CR-V.

The 10-second clip echoes a scene from the original film, when Broderick, who was 24 at the time, looks at the camera and says, "How can I possibly be expected to handle school on a day like this?" In the teaser, a much more mature Broderick, wrapped in a white robe, exclaims, "How can I handle work on a day like today?" The date of Feb. 5 -- Super Bowl Sunday -- then flashes on the screen.

The clip set off a whirlwind of speculation on the web, leading some to believe a sequel to "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" was in the making, though Broderick himself has in the past said a sequel wouldn't make much sense.

A source at American Honda Motors in California would not confirm that Broderick is in its ad and would only tell Ad Age that the company expected to issue a press release about the ad on Monday. Honda agency RPA has not responded to a request for comment. American Honda's Acura division also has a spot in the game. And online sleuthing yesterday had a couple of Ad Age staffers leaning toward Chrysler as the culprit.

Even if Jalopnik turned out to be wrong -- and the site seems pretty confident in its reporting -- it seems unlikely that the marketer behind this tease would be able to keep the secret safe until game day. It's one thing to keep your campaign under lock and key, another to put a teaser on YouTube in 2012 and not expect someone among the millions of people on social media and blogs to ferret it out.

According to Jalopnik, the spot, which was the work of Todd Phillips, who made "The Hangover," would use the 1986 comedy as a theme, updated to 2012 sensibilities. The auto-enthusiast site reports that during the iconic scene of the two valets jumping a hill, the red Ferrari will be replaced with a CR-V.

Honda -- or whatever company is behind this -- could be playing with fire. The top two comments on YouTube at the moment are from people outraged that a sequel is not in the offing.

The first reads: "If this is a commercial for honda, im keying every honda car i see in the street."

And the second: "Surely this can only fail as an advert. I hate Honda more than I can say right now. They show us a glimpse of something we can only dream about, then replace it with a crappy car. FUCK YOU HONDA. SAVE FERRIS."