Menu
Marketing and Sponsorship

Jets fan gets a football night to remember, courtesy of Bud Light

For Andres Segura, it was going to be just another night watching his beloved New York Jets over some Bud Lights with a pal. Segura, a 31-year-old New York banker, met a friend at a sports bar in Hell’s Kitchen around 5 p.m. Like so many of his fellow millennials, Segura wasn’t going to make definite plans until … later. After all, the Jets-Bills game wasn’t starting for more than three hours.

When three comely ladies approached and asked if he was “up for whatever,” Segura was intrigued. One of the women flipped a Jets coin. If it landed on tails, they were taking him out. So began an extraordinary Nov. 12 evening for Segura — a night that would include a helicopter ride from Manhattan to MetLife Stadium in Jersey, meeting Jets owner Woody Johnson and running through the stadium tunnel and onto the turf, just ahead of the Jets.

Segura is the most recent unsuspecting millennial cast in Bud Light’s “Up For Whatever” campaign. The series began with BBDO’s 2014 Super Bowl ad, which included an elevator ride with a llama and a pingpong match with a bewigged Arnold Schwarzenegger. The ad Segura was to star in was also tied to another idea from BBDO (since dumped by A-B, in favor of Wieden & Kennedy), an attempt to take ownership of the coin toss that precedes every NFL game.

Andres Segura takes center stage in a new “Up For Whatever” spot.
Photos by: TERRY LEFTON / STAFF
Tying in that coin-toss concept was sold hard by A-B at a gathering of its NFL team sponsors in late July. Team-specific ads had already been done for the Eagles, Steelers, Seahawks, Broncos and Patriots. The Jets jumped at the opportunity to do their own. Planning began in early August to create something that would depict the ultimate Jets fan experience.

Since two of the women at the bar were wearing Bud Light shirts, and since Segura was “scouted” during the prior

A chance to meet Jets owner Woody Johnson
Sunday of NFL games at the same bar, he had an idea something was going on and who was behind it. Still, there was no way he was prepared for the rest of the evening. “I’d seen the other ads, so I just decided to go with it,” he said, “but I never imagined that would be me.”

By 5:45 p.m., Segura, adorned in a Jets hoodie and cap, was walking with his newfound friends toward the West 30th Street Heliport on the Hudson River. Joined by his friend Eric Wilson, some Jets personnel

On the sideline at MetLife Stadium
and a crew from Rooftop2 Productions, he climbed into a helicopter. Segura still wasn’t sure where he was heading, but a night chopper ride over Manhattan seemed intriguing.

As they approached the Empire State Building around 6:30, Segura was handed a Jets-branded controller and told to push it. Instantly the fifth-tallest building in America lit up in Jets green. In retrospect, Jets officials said coordinating that timing was the most difficult part of the shoot; there wasn’t going to be an opportunity for a second take.

“It was a complete freak-out being that close to the Empire State Building with the light show,” Segura said. “Even after how great that was, I still didn’t know where I was going.”

Well … the Jets gear might have given him some idea. Still, not knowing what’s coming next — and presumably Bud Light’s ability to help one deal with that sort of predicament — is central to this campaign.

Inside the helicopter, Segura turned to his friend and said, “This is the best day of my life.” Since that line was unscripted, Jets officials knew they’d cast the right guy.

“The real fun was how wide-eyed he was throughout — he really didn’t know what was coming next,” said Ian Lasher, Jets senior vice president of corporate sponsorships. “Understanding how focused A-B is on millennials, we really took this challenge to heart.”

The helicopter landed outside MetLife Stadium at a little past 7 and was met by a Bud Light-branded dune buggy and some Jets cheerleaders. By 7:20, when we caught up with him, Segura was quaffing a brew in the Bud Light Beer Garden just outside the stadium, while the crowd chanted his name. As the camera crew trailed him, Segura traded high-fives with Jets alumni, including Chad Pennington and John Abraham, before entering the stadium. He then joined a band on a nearby stage for an impromptu musical number.

Never during the time we trailed Segura did he stop smiling. His energy level was high enough that he appeared to be moving even while standing still.

Segura continued to the sidelines. Around 8, he shook hands and chatted with the Jets owner, shortly before running out of the tunnel and onto the field. “That was the highlight,” he said the next day. “I was so nervous, I was scared I was going to trip.” He didn’t stumble and when he was shown on Daktronics’ massive 30-foot-by-118-foot HD video display boards entering the field, Segura’s phone started to blow up from friends at the game — and it didn’t stop.

The unforgettable night continued with Segura standing alongside the Jets and Bills co-captains during the coin toss. Then it was up to a box to watch the game. The last scene filmed was of Segura and Wilson clinking aluminum bottles in the Bud Light Suite. The night ended with a car service ride back to Manhattan.

Segura awoke the next morning half-convinced it was a dream, but there was a variety of Jets paraphernalia close at hand to convince him it really happened. As for the ad? It should be on social and digital media soon after you read this. If A-B likes it enough, it will go national.

“You feel so small when you’re on the field looking up at all those people in the stands,” Segura said. “That’s definitely something I won’t forget.”

That and a few other things from just another night watching the Jets.

Terry Lefton can be reached at tlefton@sportsbusinessjournal.com.

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 18, 2024

Sports Business Awards nominees unveiled; NWSL's historic opening weekend and takeaways from CFP deal

ESPN’s Jay Bilas, BTN’s Meghan McKeown, and a deep dive into AppleTV+’s The Dynasty

On this week’s Sports Media Podcast from the New York Post and Sports Business Journal, ESPN’s Jay Bilas talks all things NCAA. Big Ten Network’s Meghan McKeown shares her insight into the Caitlin Clark craze. The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn chats all things Bean Town. And SBJ’s Xavier Hunter drops in to share his findings on how the NWSL is making a social media push.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2015/11/23/Marketing-and-Sponsorship/The-Lefton-Report.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2015/11/23/Marketing-and-Sponsorship/The-Lefton-Report.aspx

CLOSE