In recent years, Bud Light found itself in the middle of a culture war, which led to depressed sales and a rethinking of strategy. Their 2025 Super Bowl ad preview features longtime collaborator Post Malone and newer pitchman, comedian Shane Gillis, showing up at a house party with Bud Light.
The ad takes place from the perspective of the front door camera with the two actors in screen the entire time.
Using PreView Synthetic AI creative testing, the ad performed relatively well, especially in driving a happiness score of 81 out of 100, but could improve with a few tweaks.
- Introduce elements that can spark happiness earlier, such as a musical score.
- While Shane Gillis clearly shows the Bud Light case at :07 seconds, it was hard to tell what the ad was for until then. As another example, Shane Gillis is wearing a Bud Light hat, but sunglasses rest above the logo for almost the entire ad, missing a clear opportunity for permanent branding.
- Additionally, the first few seconds of them waiting for someone to open the door lacked any drama or intrigue. It wasn’t until they said “C’mon,” which felt like a catch phrase like the late 90s Budweiser “Whassup,” did happiness rise.
Advertisers should remember that their brands are powerful assets in creative, especially when deployed in organic creative decisions. Bud Light had the correct approach; it just needs to improve its brand visibility.
- Always test ads with and without music to see how it could introduce the notion of humor earlier.
- Don’t obscure the brand when utilizing product placement. Using products is a great way to introduce the brand in an authentic way. This ad used two props but obscured one of them for the duration of the ad and another for most of the beginning. If using props, make them prominent, especially the branding.
- Try close ups of one of the actors within the first few seconds. A tight crop could lead to a spike in attention.