NFL's Beckham helps Buick grab Super Bowl glory

New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.'s one-handed, backbreaking touchdown grab in 2014 has been famously referred to as the "catch heard around the world."

Now, as part of an effort to help its brand resonate with younger viewers, Buick is hoping to capitalize on the moment during its first-ever Super Bowl commercial, designed to show off the Buick Cascada - the car manufacturer's first convertible in 25 years.

In Buick (NYSE: GM)'s "The Big Day" ad, actress Emily Ratajkowski makes a similar contortionist move to catch a wedding bouquet, with Beckham on hand to make an official ruling on the play.

"You can bring in some life, and spunk it up," Beckham told CNBC of his role in the ad campaign. "Emily is doing some incredible things in the ad. I don't think you have to be old to drive a Buick."

Earlier this year, Buick tapped actress Ellie Kemper for a digital media-only ad campaign around the Cascada. Buick's director of marketing Molly Peck said the brand would get its Super Bowl stars involved in online chatter around the campaign.

Their social clout is massive: Beckham has 3.6 million Instagram followers, while Ratajkowski has amassed 4.7 million.

The Super Bowl has huge potential for social media buzz. According to strategic media planning agency Spark, more than 25 million tweets were posted about last year's game, peaking at 395,000 per minute. Facebook said more than 65 million users talked about the Super Bowl last year, creating 265 million posts, comments, and likes.

"Cascada is part of Buick's successful effort to introduce the brand to a younger customer who doesn't necessarily have a good or bad perception of our brand, but just isn't aware of how compelling our vehicle lineup is today," said Peck. "Odell Beckham Jr. and Emily Ratajkowski are relevant, highly esteemed figures among the millennial audience we're seeking for Cascada."

Last year, Buick was the first American company to get into Consumer Reports top 10 auto brands list. Peck added that the brand had had three consecutive years of all-time global sales records, and felt that it was time to move into new demographics.

"Our target audience is broad with an opportunity like this, but really it's focused toward everyone who has either the wrong perception of Buick or no perception at all," said Peck.

As for Beckham, he'll be catching his first Super Bowl spot live on TV.

"I think it should be a very, very good game," he said. "I'm looking forward to it for sure."

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