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Actress Anna Kendrick arrives at the 56th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California January 26, 2014.DANNY MOLOSHOK/Reuters

Is this year's best Super Bowl ad, not a Super Bowl ad at all?

U.K. beer brand Newcastle is certainly in the running. This week it released a video starring actress (and master of Twitter hilarity) Anna Kendrick, complaining about the brand cancelling an apparent deal to feature her in a Super Bowl ad.

It's fake, of course – part of a series of videos Newcastle has made promoting the "mega huge football game ad we didn't make." The videos are a witty spoof of the over-the-top ads that other companies pay millions to air during the big game.

The videos mock Super Bowl advertising conventions such as the use of celebrities, scantily-clad women, sassy taglines, and adorable animals. In one, it brilliantly mocks the trend of companies releasing "teasers" online leading up to Super Bowl Sunday -- which are essentially commercials for commercials – with lines such as "Get ready for some marketing," and "Nothing is about to change forever."

In the video that had attracted nearly 3-million online views by Friday, Ms. Kendrick talks about how pleased she was to be thought of as "beer commercial hot," having formerly thought of herself only as "the hottest girl in your improve class hot."

(Another video features Keyshawn Johnson talking about the fake project not going forward.)

Like Samsung did last year, the video also makes fun of the fact that the NFL keeps tight controls on trademarks such as "Super Bowl" – bleeping out Ms. Kendrick every time she mentions the ad she was going to make.

While the online numbers still don't compare to the more than 100-million viewers that U.S. advertisers are hoping to reach on Sunday's broadcast, this bit of cheeky fun has earned Newcastle some well-deserved attention, without the $4-million (U.S.) price tag.

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