The official beer of the National Football League (NFL) launched a new campaign which brings to life one of the cardboard cut-out fans which are filing today’s sports stadiums.
The new spot, from agency Wieden+Kennedy New York, stars a cardboard cut-out New York Giants fan sitting in a stadium who becomes ambulatory in search of beer and then sets off an adventure which sees him scared out of the stadium by a real-life worker, get stuck on a bus windshield, get trampled on by pedestrians, fall off a truck before finally coming face-to-face with his real self.
The ad was initially posted in an epic two-minute version on the brand’s own social channels on 15 October and then released as a 30-second spot on-air on 18 October and first ran on US network TV during Sunday’s NFL games.
The campaign, which launched on 18 October, spans TV, digital, social and PR.
The campaign was created for ABInbev’s Bud Light brand’s US Chief Marketing Officer Marcel Pereira Marcondes, VP Marketing Andy Goeler, Brand Director Joe Lennon, Senior Director Lauren Rodriguez, Brand Manager Jessica Lee, Director of Marketing Communications Michael Goon, Digital Director Conor Mason, Digital Brand Manager Lindsay Cozen and Director of Bud Light Sports Marketing Joseph Barnes.
It was conceived and created by a team at agency W+K New York which included Executive Creative Director Karl Lieberman, Creative Director Gerard Caputo, Art Director Nathan Wigglesworth, Copywriters Matt Herman and Reuben Hower, Head Of Integrated Production Nick Setounski, Executive Producer Jessica Griffeth, Senior Producer Skyler Courter, Group Account Director Ryan Johnson, Management Supervisor Lauren Wilson, Account Supervisor Bianca Nikic, Account Executive Carla Caban, Sr Project Manager Bruce Fields, Jr Project Manager Camila Rodriguez, Director Of Business Affairs Patrick O’Donoghue, Sr Business Affairs Manager Maureen Doyle, Business Affairs Manager Daniella Vargas, Traffic Supervisor Sonia Bisono, Traffic Coordinator Tina Wyatt, Group Strategy Director Stephane Missier, Senior Brand Strategist Matt Hisamoto, Brand Strategist Leah Greene, Social Strategist Connor Corr and Communications Planning Director Zack Green.
The production company was O Positive with Director David Shane, Executive Producers Marc Grill and Ralph Laucella, Line Producer Marc Grill and Director Of Photography Stuart Dryburgh.
The edit company was Arcade Edit, VFX was by The Mill, Telecine by Company 3 and music and audio by Human.
Outcome:
Since it was posted on Bud Light’s social channels on 15 October, the spot has already notched up 500,000 views on Facebook, 27,000 on YouTube.
Comment:
Here’s a fun piece of sports marketing which captures the cultural sporting zeitgeist.
Although, in Activative’s opinion the acting is, well, a little stiff.
The creative approach and tone work well partly because the lead never becomes too lifelike and the team resisted the Hollywood temptation to morph the figure into flesh-and-blood.
The Covid-19 crisis has had so many stresses and depressing effects on live entertainment and sport and with enforced social distancing and bans on in-stadium fans around the world grounds are being filled with cardboard cut-out look-a-likes.
Amongst the early movers and most notable cardboard/mannequin fan stadium-filling initiatives during the pandemic were Borussia Monchengladbach’s ‘Be There Still‘, FC Seoul’s controversial ‘Sex Doll Supporters’, FC Koln’s ‘Tifo’ and Paddy Power/Motherwell’s ‘Mising People’
Links:
Bud Light
https://www.budlight.com/showtimecam
https://www.instagram.com/budlight/
https://www.facebook.com/BudLight
W+K New York
https://www.wk.com/about/office/new-york/
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