A-B InBev last night allowed a 60-second Bud Light spot to "double as a 'Game of Thrones' promo" for HBO, one of the "biggest and boldest marketing tie-ins" the cable network has ever orchestrated, according to Suzanne Vranica of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. A-B InBev for the spot "reluctantly consented to sacrifice the Bud Knight, one of its most visible fictional pitchmen, who died violently in the ad." The ad is the centerpiece of an estimated $20M "marketing blitz for the final season" of the HBO show. Plenty is "riding on the big pitch for Bud Light as well," as it has been "losing market share for several years." The ad "gives it an opportunity to tap into the buzz of 'Thrones,' which has become a cultural phenomenon, influencing an era of dark, expensive cable dramas." HBO in creating the spot considered "several potential partners, including car makers and Coca-Cola." HBO had "envisioned pitching a script that involved having Coke’s iconic polar bear turn into a 'white walker,' a zombielike creature from the show." However, Bud Light was the "preferred candidate: Its popular 'Dilly Dilly' ad campaign ... was inspired by the hit show." Droga5, N.Y., and HBO had to "come up with more than a dozen different script ideas" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 2/4). ADWEEK's David Griner writes no Super Bowl ad in recent memory has "pulled the rug out from under viewers quite like the Bud Light and HBO crossover that shocked fans of both brands." Perhaps "most impressively, the ad marks a collaboration between two of advertising’s most celebrated (and competitive) modern agencies" in Droga5 and Wieden + Kennedy, N.Y. (ADWEEK.com, 2/4).
FOR THE THRONE: VOX.com's Chavie Lieber wrote A-B InBev allowing HBO to take over one of its Super Bowl ads speaks to the "power of the HBO series and the limits people will go for it" (VOX.com, 2/3). A few hours after the spot aired, author George R.R. Martin "endorsed the ad with a tweet." Martin: “The Super Bowl sucked, but our commercial was awesome" (NJ.com, 2/4). In L.A., Sonaiya Kelley noted fans on Twitter "were torn between delight and horror at the bizarre crossover" (LATIMES.com, 2/3). In Phoenix, Bill Goodykoontz in a front-page piece wrote, "That was the first time in years I’d genuinely been surprised by an ad, and actually yelled, 'Whoa!'" It was a "rare highlight in an afternoon that could have used far more of them" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 2/4). Adweek Editorial Dir James Cooper said the Bud Light spot was the "one ad of the entire game where you were like, 'Wait, what did I just see?'" ("Today," NBC, 2/4). But on Long Island, Verne Gay writes the hype for "Game of Thrones" is "so beyond the beyond right now that adding some beer suds" is "just obnoxious." The ad "devalued the whole franchise" (NEWSDAY.com, 2/4).
STRANGE BREW: In N.Y., Sapna Maheshwari notes Bud Light earlier in the broadcast "ran a commercial" that showed the characters from the "Dilly Dilly" campaign receiving a "shipment of corn syrup, supposedly meant for either Miller Lite or Coors Light." MillerCoors "quickly responded, saying that none of its products contain 'any high fructose corn syrup' and that a number of Anheuser-Busch items do" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/4). In Cleveland, Marc Bona noted it "wasn't that long ago when an ad touting Budweiser poked at craft brewers -- odd, considering the latter accounts" for about 12% of the market share (CLEVELAND.com, 2/4).
