Bud Light Seltzer will ask social media to pick which Post Malone spot to air during the Super Bowl

Bud Light gets inside Post Malone’s head—and his stomach, nose and spleen—with a Super Bowl campaign for its new seltzer. The Anheuser-Busch InBev brand today released two ads—only one of them will run in the game—that show the singer downing the drink. He collects feedback via people inside his head that act like a control room communicating with his taste buds, stomach, nose and even his spleen, which provides a little comic relief. The campaign comes from Bud Light agency-of-record Wieden & Kennedy New York. The approach is reminiscent of how Pixar turned a child’s emotions into characters in the movie, “Inside Out.” Except the Bud Light ads focus more on the taste experience. Malone’s taste buds are depicted as goggle-wearing people getting drenched in a rush of seltzer, for instance. Bud Light executives will decide which of the two ads to run in the game based on social media reaction, including comments, likes and shares. The brand must let Fox know by Friday which ad to run, but it won’t publicly reveal the winning ad until it airs in the game, says Bud Light VP Andy Goeler. “We started out with the intent of having on [ad],” he says. But “both of these spots we loved” he said. So “we decided let’s put it out there and let fans help us decide.” One ad shows Malone walking into a store with the intent of buying regular Bud Light until he notices the seltzer. This sets off a fight between two men inside his head (presumably representing his brain) about which one to choose, before a woman weighs in: “Guys, guys, we are incredibly rich. Let’s get both.” The second spot shows Malone ordering a mango-flavored Bud Light Seltzer, which gets approval from characters playing his stomach and nose, portrayed as people in a wind tunnel. The spleen, shown as a balding man in desk job, expresses jealousy for the taste buds. Bud Light released the seltzer earlier this year in a move to catch up with White Claw and Truly, which dominate in the nascent, but hot-selling, category. Bud Light’s first ads for the product featured the small town of Seltzer, Pennsylvania. Townspeople (played by actors) were shown making over-the-top endorsements of the product. Goeler says those ads were aimed at spreading basic information about the seltzer. The Super Bowl campaign marks a new phase of the campaign aimed at sparking “cultural conversation,” he says. Malone is not new to Bud Light marketing. Previous efforts have included a Bud Light-branded fashion line announced in August that included streetwear influenced by the rapper’s well-known tattoos. His tattoos also play a role in the new ads: The characters inside his head are tatted up just like him. Malone is emerging as a popular product endorser. He is also promoting a new flavor for Doritos, Flamin' Hot Limón. In a spot that first ran during the Grammy Awards broadcast, Malone is so taken with the flavored tortilla chips that he gets a tattoo of one on his face and changes his name to Post Limón. He did the same on his social channels. Contributing: Jessica Wohl

Bud Light Seltzer will ask social media to pick which Post Malone spot to air during the Super Bowl

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