Bud Light Revives Classic Humor Ad With Shane Gillis Amid Weak Recovery
Following Bud Light's disastrous social media partnership with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney, which triggered nationwide boycotts and left beer volumes struggling to recover, the brewer has yet to apologize for pushing the woke religion on its blue-collar, working-class customer base. Instead, they've now tapped comedian Shane Gillis for a new ad, this time, free of 100% far-left wokeism propaganda and back to the good ole' days of downright classic humor.
Ad Age reports that Gillis' appearance in the new television ad "revives an age-old brand joke—the guy who will do anything for a Bud Light—in a scene recalling Dean Wormer admonishing the Deltas in Animal House."
Range Media Partners, Gillis' agency, is behind the new ad, which the comedian co-wrote. "The Dean's Office" shows a football player pressured to admit he cheated on an exam with the offer of a cold Bud Light. The move backfires when each of the onlookers in the room can't resist confessing to their own embarrassing secrets. Frequent Gillis collaborators Steve Gerben and John McKeever (who also directed) also appear. -Ad Age
The new 30-second ad will air on Saturday during college football games across various networks, including ABC, ESPN, and NBC.
Bud Light's move to revive classic ads without pushing the woke religion comes as the latest Nielsen Beer data shows Bud Light has yet to recover from the boycott that began in April 2023. Data also indicates Bud Light has been the worst performer in the AB portfolio this summer.
Here's the ad.
Shane Gillis’ debut appearance as a Bud Light rep revives an age-old brand joke—the guy who will do anything for a Bud Light—in a scene recalling Dean Wormer admonishing the Deltas in “Animal House.” pic.twitter.com/9hZ4IfZD4f
— Ad Age (@adage) August 30, 2024
To sum up, the Bud Light boycott persists as customers were awakened that they were actually drinking overpriced crap light beer.