Ever wonder what it would be like to have your own personal beer vendor following you around? Turns out it’s not as great as you might think.
Bud Light explores the absurd idea in its first broadcast ad of the NFL season, from agency Wieden + Kennedy New York.
“Vendor” opens on a guy telling his friend it would be “awesome to have this guy around all the time” as a Bud Light vendor hands him an ice cold beer at a football game. But while things seem great at first—beer on the couch without needing to get up, shower beer—it soon turns into a classic “Be careful what you wish for” tale.
“Vendor” ends with a tearful goodbye and the line, “Here’s to the friends you can always count on,” followed by a positioning of Bud Light as “Brewed to be America’s favorite light lager,” which W+K introduced last month with a pair of ads touting the product’s “four simple ingredients.”
The ad will make its broadcast debut tonight during the second quarter of the New England Patriots’ home opener against the Kansas City Chiefs and will be supported by a “Bud Light Touchdown Glass” in-game initiative. The glass will be handed out to Patriots fans in attendance and lights up every time the team scores, as well as during a toast celebrating the Super Bowl LI banner being unveiled in Gillette Stadium for the first time.
Versions of the Bud Light Touchdown Glass for a variety of teams are also available for purchase.
“Vendor” is the latest in the “Famous Among Friends” campaign that W+K New York launched for the brand this past year with its “Between Friends” bromance. A 60-second spot with the ghost of Spuds MacKenzie ran during the Super Bowl.
Last fall, AB InBev wrapped up W+K’s campaign starring Amy Schumer and Seth Rogen ahead of schedule. Thus far things seem to be going more smoothly with the “Famous Among Friends” effort, with the agency trading in lighthearted humor centered around friendship rather than attempts at political parody.
CREDITS
Client: Bud Light
Agency: W+K New York
Executive Creative Director: Karl Lieberman
Creative Directors: Brandon Henderson, John Parker, Erwin Federizo
Copywriter: Will Binder
Art Director: Jacob Weinstein
Head of Integrated Production: Nick Setounski
Executive Producer: Temma Shoaf
Assistant Producer: Jordan Leinen
Strategist: Nick Docherty
Account Team: Brandon Pracht, Price Manford, Lauren Wilson
Business AffairsL Patrick O’Donoghue, Justine Lowe, Brit Fryer
Communications Planning Supervisor: Mark Malloy
Project Manager: Sunjoo Ryou
Production Company: O-Positive
Director: Jim Jenkins
Executive Producer: Ralph Laucella
Executive Producer: Marc Grill
Director of Photography: Dion Beebe
Editorial Company: Arcade Edit
Editor: Geoff Hounsell
Post Executive Producer: Sila Soyer
Post Producer: Andrew Cravotta
Editorial Assistant: Chris Angel/Micah Chase
VFX Company: The Mill
Executive Producer: Verity Grantham
Producer: Clairellen Wallin, Hayley Wallach
VFX Supervisor: Nathan Kane, Anne Trotman
2D Lead: Nathan Kane
2D Team: Jimmy Bullard, Ting Jung-Hsu, Taner Besen, Sungeun Moon, Kyle Zemborain, Alex Miller
Production Coordinator: Michael Brown
Telecine Company: Company 3
Head of Color/Grade Artist: Tom Poole
Mix Company: Sound Lounge
Mixer: Glen Landrum
Executive Producer: Mike Gullo
Producer: Becca Falborn
Music Company: Walker
EP: Sara Matarazzo, Stephanie Pigott
Music Coordinator: Marissa Hernandez
