Brewing giant and long-time NFL corporate partner Anheuser-Busch returned to the Super Bowl for its near-50th year with Big Game commercials ads for three of its leading beer brands: Bud Light (the official beer of the NFL), Budweiser and Michelob Ultra.
Bud Light’s TV ad, titled ‘Easy Night Out,’ sees a fan meet the Bud Light Genie who grants the host of a Super Bowl watch party a series of wishes which span money, muscles, motors, a T-Rex and, of course, beer.
The spot features a series of cameos by stars such as NFL QB legend Peyton Manning and rapper Post Malone who leans into his hedonistic reputation by partying in a dive bar while Steppenwolf’s 1972 hit ‘Magic Carpet Ride’ plays in the background.
The campaign, which dropped online on 6 February (a week ahead of the Big Game), was created by agency Anomaly.
Meanwhile, anchor brand Budweiser’s return to the Super Bowl spotlight comes in the form of an ad campaign that pays homage to a traditional and iconic symbol of the brand – the Clydesdales (which have been associated with the brand since 1933).
Called ‘Old-School Delivery’ and directed by Henry Alex Rubin, the commercial is set in a small snow-stricken town where closed roads threaten to halt beer deliveries to local bars. Cue the spot’s heroes, the Budweiser Clydesdales, which emerge from their stables and stride through the snow-covered streets delivering beer to a grateful community.
For the brewing giant’s third Big Game brand campaign, soccer superstar Lionel Messi fronted a Michelob Ultra ad packing some serious A-lister clout and focusing more on football (soccer) than American Football.
The spot saw Argentina skipper and Inter Miami star team up with Apple TV’s ‘Ted Lasso’ actor and producer Jason Sudeikis and NFL/Miami Dolphins legend Dan Marino.
The ad, called ‘Superior Beach’, created and developed by agency Wieden+Kennedy New York and helmed by Swedish Director Adam Berg and pre-released online from 1 February. It starts with Messi walking into a bar, keg taps open and ends with a beach football game to remember.
“Football/soccer is approaching, I believe, what is a golden era in the US,” said Ricardo Marques, vice president of marketing for Michelob Ultra. “There is a bigger play for us as a brand in the space of soccer and we could not make that happen without having the GOAT himself be a part of that story.”
Outcome
Notching up 10.3m YouTube views in 10 days, it’s Messi’s star power that generated the most social clicks of the trio of ads 24 hours after the Super Bowl, with Bud’s Clydesdale’s attracting 3.7m YouTube views in 13 days and Bud Light’s ad (posted just two days before kick-off) racking up 2.4m views across its 30-60- and 120-second versions.
For us at Activative, Bud Light got it more right than Budweiser. The absurd escalation felt right for the over-the-top sportainment party that is the Super Bowl. Plus, when it comes to Bud Big game ads, surely the Clydesdales are too historically sacred to be harnessed up for anything other than a truly special spot: there is a high bar when it comes to the Clydesdales and we’ve seen more special than this.
After a disastrous couple of years – in which its US market leader position was lost after becoming a corporate victim of right wing cancel culture when a brand boycott began in April 2023 in response to a short-lived marketing tie-up with actress, TikTok personality and transgender woman Dylan Mulvaney – Bud Light and Bud will hope that its Big Game platform and this kind of warm, updated old-school Americana heartland advertising will help lead to a recovery.
As for Michelob Ultra, promoting soccer during a gridiron game is an interesting (even a brave) approach – even with a cameo appearance from NFL icon Marino. But, while Messi does have major pulling power – even in the USA now – this kind of global commercial can still come over as quite vanilla.