Paralympian Jessica Long's Toyota Ad Is a Must-Watch

Warning: You will cry.

jessica long
(Image credit: Harry How)

If you didn't tear up watching Toyota's Super Bowl LV ad with Paralympian Jessica Long...well, you might want to see someone about that. The moving commercial, a love letter to both adoption and the disabled community, showed the parents of the now-gold medalist—they're played by actors, but it's a true story—getting the call that the daughter they hoped to adopt would need to have both her legs amputated. "It might not be easy, but it'll be amazing," Long's mom, who's played by an actor in the commercial, tearfully responds. "I can't wait to meet her."

The commercial shows Long swimming through milestones in her life, from learning to walk to swimming competitively—all the time watched by her adoring parents. The scenes unfold as the voiceover says: "Mrs. Long? We've found a baby girl for your adoption, but there's some things you need to know...She was born with a rare condition. Her legs will need to be amputated...Her life, it won't be easy."

And people are loving it (and crying, because, I mean, did you see that?):

[twitter align='center' id='1358578907931422720' username='DavidAFrench']https://twitter.com/DavidAFrench/status/1358578907931422720[/twitter]

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“I love that the spot highlights not just the gold medals and accomplishments but the challenging journey to get there,” Long said in a statement.

Jenny Hollander
Digital Director

Jenny is the Digital Director at Marie Claire. Originally from London, she moved to New York in 2012 to attend the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and never left. Prior to Marie Claire, she spent five years at Bustle building out its news and politics coverage. She loves, in order: her dog, goldfish crackers, and arguing about why umbrellas are fundamentally useless. Her first novel, EVERYONE WHO CAN FORGIVE ME IS DEAD, will be published by Minotaur Books on February 6, 2024.