Thoughts
Bud Light Television Spot
By Todd Brashear
“Duuuuuude.”
That’s the entire script for the new Bud Light television spot. An Everyday Joe saying “dude” in 14 different scenarios, each time conveying a different meaning in manguage … er … man language. One time, his “dude” is a response to another man sitting too close. In another, he’s got the munchies as he hold up a jar of peanut butter and drolls, “Duuuuuuuuuuuuude.” On the 14th and final “dude,” he takes time from drinking his Bud Light to scorn his roommate for ordering champagne at a bar.
The point is made. Bud Light understands men and presumably will give men a beer they’ll like. It’s funny, no doubt. But, in terms of branding, is it good?
Not so much.
For starters, how many original and entertaining scenarios can the ad team dream up? My guess is, this idea has one, maybe two more spot’s worth of material. Hardly the kind of legs that make a good, enduring campaign.
Also, Bud Light and Miller Lite have tried to out-testosterone each other for decades now, going all the way back to the can-crushing TV spots of the 70s to the Men of the Round Table in the 00s. To stake out a unique position, perhaps it’s time they realized that in the world of stouts, porters, ambers, bocks and just plain regular beer, light beer is not a particularly manly drink – no matter how many times they try to tell us that it is. Granted, my criticism on this front is more about the overall branding strategy of Bud Light than it is about the “Dude” TV spot, but, in terms of messaging, this spot is just more of the same, tired exercise. When it comes to living a “manly” brand, Bud Light would be right at home, spending just a weekend on a dude ranch.
In other words, it’s all hat and no cattle.
Inherently, there’s nothing wrong with being the least masculine product in a category. But, in my mind, the real joke here is the one that’s never stated – that Bud Light (and Miller Light, for that matter) have a real Napoleon complex. In order to try to make up for their lack of manliness, they’ve dumped many millions of dollars into making themselves appear manly. Joke’s on them.
It’s probably no coincidence that, in the final scene, the dudee disrespects a champagne drinker. After all, Anheuser-Busch’s number-one competitor is Miller, maker of “The Champagne of Beers.” So this parting shot is a clever little jab at the Milwaukee brewer – a joke probably only enjoyed by the ad agency and the Bud Light marketing team. But the ultimate irony of even that joke is that Bud Light is no more manly than its competitor or the champagne that our central character disses in the commercial.
For that, I say to Bud Light and its creative team, “Dudes, it’s time to move on.”
E-mail the author: Todd Brashear