Advertisers keep counting on Julie Bowen and Ty Burrell to reach out from “Modern Family” to yours.
The duo, currently featured in a non-traditional marketing pitch from pharma giant GSK, have reunited to make consumers more aware of meningitis risks for teens and young adults. In a nearly eight-minute-long video that will evoke memories of their popular ABC (and now streaming) comedy, the pair learn more about the disease, how it’s transmitted and its effects. GSK manufactures both Bexsero and Penmenvy, two drugs that can be of help.
“I had no idea about any of this,” says Bowen, during a recent interview. “I’m fairly uptight and proudly so. Like, I’m on top of this stuff, and I had no idea that the bacteria that causes meningitis can be spread through all these different activities,” including sharing containers.
The actors played husband and wife on a show that ran for 11 seasons, ending in 2020, and say it’s not difficult to get their vibe back when necessary. There’s a “rhythm after all the years of being together and being silly together,” says Burrell.
Marketers have noticed. Bowen and Burrell reunited with fellow cast members Eric Stonestreet and Jesse Tyler Ferguson in 2024 in a commercial for Meta’s WhatsApp, playing what appeared to be their “Modern Family” characters. The spot made the case that the instant-messaging app worked well, no matter whether the user relied on an iPhone or an Android. The ad captured attention but was a little disorienting for the actors, says Bowen. “That was freakish because we were on a set that wasn’t our set,” she recalls. “It was like having a bad dream, in a way. It was great to be together, and everything was the same, and then you look up at the cameraman we were with for 11 years, and you’re like, oh, he’s not there.”
