Last week, A-B InBev faux-craft brand Shock Top teased its Super Bowl ad from Anomaly Toronto featuring T.J. Miller and Martin Montana (as Shock Top mascot Wedgehead), promising the full ad would be the “greatest Super Bowl ad of all time.” Now the brand has revealed the extended 90-second version of the big game ad.
While it doesn’t live up to the “greatest ever” hyperbole, the ad easily exceeds the expectations we had following last week’s teaser. This time around, the spot cuts straight to the chase, with Miller and Montana basically exchanging insults for the duration of the ad. That makes for a fairly entertaining approach, certainly better than trying to talk up the subpar Belgian-style wheat ale, with Miller and Montana finding a natural rhythm and chemistry. Whether or not the stabs at humor can convince viewers to buy the brand is another matter, but the approach fits well with Shock Top’s “Live Life Unfiltered” campaign which falsely differentiates the brand from other beers in the style (which are also unfiltered).
Apparently, much of Miller and Montana’s banter was ad-libbed, again fitting in with the “unfiltered” theme. “We came in with a shit ton of ideas — or I should say a fuck ton — and then we riffed along,” Miller told Mashable.
He added that Anomaly Toronto and the brand asked him to star in the spot with the pitch already in mind. “It’s right within my absurdist wheelhouse,” he added. “I’ve been really lucky lately — where people basically say, ‘Hey, you do you, man. You do you. We like what you do so do your thing within these parameters,’ and I always like that.”
Adding yet another layer to the “unfiltered” campaign, the brand let Miller edit its press release (below) in red pen.