FANS

NBC's promo for Packers-Bears game hits Da Bears where it hurts with 'double doink' joke

Kendra Meinert
Green Bay Press-Gazette
Blake Martinez of the Green Bay Packers grabs Adam Shaheen of the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Dec. 16, 2018.

The Green Bay Packers vs. the Chicago Bears to open the NFL’s 100th season all but sells itself, but NBC couldn’t resist throwing in the "double doink" to hype the Sept. 5 game at Soldier Field.

In a new spot from "Sunday Night Football," the “Da Bears!” superfans made famous on “Saturday Night Live” in the early 1990s get their hands on what appears to be “an adorable Bears kicker doll.” Just one problem: The teddy bear is being sold in Green Bay, so when you squeeze it, it says “double doink.”

That’s a not-so-cuddly reminder for Bears fans of how the team was knocked out of the playoffs last season with a missed field goal that hit the left upright and then bounced off the crossbar in the NFC wild card game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Cue the footage.

A tweet from "SNF" promises more promos to come, so perhaps da Packers will be the punchline in the rivalry the next time around.

New 'SNF' opening pairs Packers fan Joan Jett with Carrie Underwood for theme song

"SNF" has alsop shared a sneak peek of this year’s opening sequence with Carrie Underwood. 

There are no Packers among the 13 NFL players featured alongside the country star — Clay Matthews, we miss you already — but there will be a Packers fan. Joan Jett, whose love for the Packers began as a kid growing up in Pennsylvania and Maryland, will join Underwood to perform the original “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night” theme song that’s based on Jett’s hit, “I Hate Myself for Loving You.” 

This is Underwood’s seventh year performing the “SNF” opening, which regularly featured Matthews, now with the Los Angeles Rams. This season’s segment, filmed at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, features three (THREE!) Chicago Bears: Kyle Fuller, Khalil Mack and Mitch Trubisky. Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins is also among the guests, along with Russell Wilson, Patrick Mahomes, Carson Wentz and others.

The new opening will premiere Sept. 8 for the New England Patriots vs. Pittsburgh Steelers game, which is the first official Sunday night game.

Contact Kendra Meinert at 920-431-8347 or kmeinert@greenbay.gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KendraMeinert