A Facebook headline declared that Miles and Keleigh Teller were the faces of the Bud Light Super Bowl commercial this year. My interest was piqued, but I kept scrolling.
Two hours later I watched the full commercial projected on a screen by my professor in my Advertising Media Strategy class.
The 60-second commercial starts with Keleigh Teller laying on a couch on hold with customer service. A robotic voice comes from the speaker-phone announcing that her wait time will be “less than 96 minutes.” Miles Teller, her husband, grabs two Bud Light cans out of the refrigerator and dances them to his wife while Opus No. 1 by Tim Carleton plays out of the phone. Opus No. 1 is the notorious "on-hold" ballad.
The couple sips their beers and dances with each other in the living room. They’re laughing together and sparking great emotional energy at a time when most people are annoyed and stressed out. The video ends with the phrase: Easy to Drink, Easy to Enjoy.
Target Audience
Growing up and in college, I thought of my dad when someone said or drank Bud Light. It is what my dad always had. I rarely see younger generations order a Bud Light at the bar or carry a 30-rack into their apartment buildings.
Bud Light came out with Bud Light Peels, Bud Light Seltzers and most recently Bud Light Soda in Jan. 2022 to target the younger audience who is more attracted to the seltzers and flavored drinks.
Through the campaign that the brand is taking on during Super Bowl LVII, it is evident that Bud Light is targeting a younger audience through more than just new product releases and traditional advertising.
Strategic use of the Tellers
Miles Teller began his acting career predominantly in 2011 with Footloose and most recently starred in Top Gun: Maverick in 2022. His fanbase is mostly between Gen X and Gen Z and distributed between males and females due to the variety of movie genres that he stars in. His wife Keleigh Teller is a social media influencer. Her target audience is millennials and Gen Z females.
When I heard that the Tellers were in the Bud Light ad, I was drawn in before I even saw an ad teaser. If my dad -- your typical Bud Light drinker -- heard the same news, he’d ask, “Who are the Tellers?”
Using the couple as the face of the brand during the Super Bowl will resonate Bud Light with a younger, more trendy audience. This strays away from the typical beer audience of Gen X males.
Instagram Analysis
Bud Light using socials as a main form of advertising also demonstrates its change in the target audience for the campaign.
As of 2 p.m. on Feb 10, two days before Super Bowl LVII, Bud Light has seven in-feed posts regarding the brand as a part of the Super Bowl. These posts include the full commercial release which was on Feb. 2, and a commercial teaser on Jan. 26.
The brand reposts numerous Instagram stories daily from followers regarding Bud Light and the Super Bowl, such as people drinking beer out of the limited edition Super Bowl LVII can and videos recreating the commercial ad.
Reposted Instagram Stories from the everyday person humanizes the brand. It shows the product in action, can spark ideas for other followers and be more relative than just a logo and a photoshop constructed advertisement. Personally, I love reposted content for those reasons specifically.
Mama Kelse Partnership
One of the biggest stars this Super Bowl is Donna Kelce, mother of brothers Travis and Jason Kelce competed against each other during Super Bowl LVII. In a post on Feb. 9, Bud Light uploaded a photo of Donna Kelce holding a box of Bud Light with a message that says:
“As of February 8th, 2023 Bud Light is officially sponsoring Donna Kelse, mom of the Kelce brothers. Super Bowl Sunday will be easy to enjoy for Donna and the winning city, as Donna will bring home the Bud Light and lead the celebration.”
Most agencies are going after the biggest social influencer to be sponsored by a brand. Bud Light is going after an NFL mom. Personable, relatable and heartwarming.
Bud Light During the Super Bowl
I was able to watch the Super Bowl ad in real-time during the second half. I was scrolling through my phone and heard Opus No. 1 by Tim Carleton. Because I’ve been exposed to this ad so many times over the last two weeks, I knew what was on the screen before I even looked up. In my opinion, Super Bowl ads should not be released beforehand. But because Bud Light strategically and repetitively aired the ad on socials, it caught people’s attention during the game.
Seconds after the commercial aired, Bud Light reposted the final five seconds of the ad on its Instagram Story with its slogan, “Easy to Drink, Easy to Enjoy,” almost as what I assumed was a cap off for the campaign. A great run, it was.
Bud Light Post-Game
I was wrong about that! It was not a cap off for the campaign. Bud Light’s most recent and final major ad was posted as an Instagram reel featuring Chief’s running back Jaamal Charles in a semi-truck delivering Bud Light to the city of Kansas City. The caption said:
“The @cheifs brought home the #SBLVII trophy… and the Bud Light! @jaamalcharles has officially landed in KC with a truck full of ice-cold beers for the ENTIRE city, making the celebration #EasyToEnjoy. See you on the parade route!”
I am curious to know how this would have been executed with an Eagles win. Was there another reel filmed in Philly beforehand with another football star? I assume there was a large budget spent on post-game advertising that was never uploaded due to uncertainty of who was going to win. I love this gamble.
Immediately after the game, celebs everywhere were posting Instagram Stories telling people to vote for Bud Light as the best Super Bowl ad this year. Chad Henne was not telling people to go to Disney World, but held a Bud Light in an Instagram post captioned, “Calling it a career. Capping it off with Bud Light and another ring!”
Never have I seen a brand storm social media the way that Bud Light took over Super Bowl LVII. As I write and upload this, it is about 12 hours after the game. This campaign will be taken as far as it can go (maybe to the end of the week, if the brand is lucky). A new perception of the brand is in my mind: fun, young, and celebratory. The marketing was strategic and not overbearing. The change in target audience made this campaign enjoyable to watch and had me waiting for more.
Benoit Garbe, chief marketing officer for Anheuser-Busch, told CNN that Bud Light’s ad will usher in a reintroduction and a “new era” of the brand. As a young professional and part of the target for this campaign, the reintroduction was a success.