BMW released a commercial Tuesday for its electric i3 hatchback starring former "Today" show hosts Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel that will air during Super Bowl XLIX on Sunday,

The 60-second commercial, "Newfangled Idea," starts in 1994 with a "Today" show clip featuring Couric and Gumbel attempting to understand the Internet and email.

In order to fully appreciate the commercial, you need to understand the drama behind the 1994 clip. In 2011, livid NBC executives fired an employee for leaking the 1994 clip in which anchors Couric and Gumbel struggle to make sense of the new technology known as the Internet, Detroit Free Press reports.

They say time heals all wounds, and it seems the network execs have acquired a sense of humor about the incident now, probably due to the creative minds in BMW's advertising department.

In 1994, the morning show hosts were reportedly "embarrassed" by the footage. Gumbel is seen wrestling with the meaning of a "@" sign, and a baffled Couric asks a producer, "Allison, what is Internet?"

On Monday, Couric appeared on "Today" to preview the BMW Super Bowl commercial with host Matt Lauer before its debut during Super Bowl XLIX.

The commercial begins with the classic 1994 moment then fast-forwards 21 years later with the pair riding inside an i3 hatchback pretending not to understand how the German automaker's futuristic electric car works.

Introducing the ad, the "Today" show anchors proudly revealed the clip had "gone viral" when it was first posted.

BMW's i3 is an all-electric car that joined its i8 coupe last year in the carmaker's growing lineup of plug-in electric cars.

It has been four years since the German automaker has purchased advertising space during the NFL championship game.

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