THE worst Super Bowl party ever? Maybe. But it was the best Super Bowl ad of the night.

Jay Leno and David Letterman’s Super Bowl commercial collaboration required one of the late night hosts to become a master of disguise, according to Entertainment Weekly.

The Late Show‘s executive producer Rob Burnett tells EW that producing the commercial, which also starred Oprah Winfrey, took “logistical meetings that would make the CIA proud”.

To help ensure the meeting of the late-night comedy geniuses remained a secret, Leno even concealed his identity when he entered the Ed Sullivan theatre to film the segment.

“NBC arranged to have Jay fly on the NBC jet at 7.30 in the morning on Feb 2nd, and he was at the Teterboro Airport [in New Jersey] at 3.30pm,” said Burnett.

“We snuck him through the front door on Broadway. Jay wore a disguise:…a hooded sweatshirt, dark sunglasses and a moustache. Fifteen minutes later, Oprah arrived…but not in disguise.”

According to Burnett, the segment was Letterman’s idea and Leno was a willing participant.

“My first call was to Oprah – she got it right away,” Burnett said.

“And then I called [CBS Corp chairman] Les Moonves to make sure he was ok with Jay being on CBS. I have to give Les credit…he got it immediately.”

“And then I called [Leno's executive producer] Debbie Vickers who said ‘Dave and Jay are in the same room?’ She laughed for a good minute and said Jay would want to call. I hung up, and two minutes later it was Jay. He said ‘his is the way show business should be.’”

Despite all the controversy surrounding Leno’s return to The Tonight Show, Burnett said Letterman wasn’t concerned about featuring his competitor in the Super Bowl segment.

“It’s interesting…there was a lot of internet conversation about whether this was a good thing to be doing from a PR standpoint,” Burnett revealed.

“Are we rehabilitating Jay’s image?” Dave had a simple edict: if it’s funn, we do it. When CBS says it needs 10 seconds, it’s incumbent upon you to do the funniest bit you can do.”

Watch the commercial:

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