Bud Light released two Super Bowl commercials before halftime this year, including a totally-shocking crossover between the Dilly Dilly kingdom and the Game of Thrones universe.
In that commercial — the second of the two ads to air during the game — the Bud Light King and his people are watching a jousting match between the Bud Knight and a challenger — the Mountain, from Game of Thrones. As soon as the knight in blue armor is knocked off his horse and his mysterious foe begins crushing his head, one of the dragons from Game of Thrones starts flying over the arena, as the crowd screams in horror. The commercial ends with the dragon torching the building and all of its inhabitants, as the Game of Thrones logo flashes on screen. Is this the end of the Dilly Dilly kingdom? Only time will tell.
And in the first ad, the Bud Light King, the Bud Knight, and their wizard friend are trying to find a home for an errant barrel of corn syrup. They roll it to the Miller Lite castle, where a watchman at the gate tells them that they’ve already received their shipment of corn syrup. The king and his gang then head across the mountains and the sea to the Coors Light castle where they find a taker for the giant barrel. It’s a funny ad, with a clear message: Unlike its competitors, Bud Light doesn’t mess with corn syrup.
The National Corn Growers Association is not pleased:
.@BudLight America’s corn farmers are disappointed in you. Our office is right down the road! We would love to discuss with you the many benefits of corn! Thanks @MillerLight and @CoorsLite for supporting our industry. https://t.co/6fIWtRdeeM
— National Corn (NCGA) (@NationalCorn) February 4, 2019
The beer brand also spun the “no corn syrup” angle in two mini-ads that ran during the second half of the game. One is about medieval barbers:
And the other is about a few bros stuck inside a Trojan horse:
Bud Light previously emphasized its minimalist ingredient list in a commercial where the king decrees that he wants his people to know what’s in their beer:
And that commercial was followed by another ad where archers shoot ingredient labels randomly into a field:
AB InBev is also running four other ads during today’s game: Stella Artois’s meet-cute between the Dude and Carrie Bradshaw; Budweiser’s feel-good wind power story featuring a Dalmatian and some Clydesdales; Michelob Ultra’s ASMR-themed commercial with Zoë Kravitz; and the Bon & Viv’s Spiked Seltzer ad featuring two fake founders and a school of sharks.
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