Watch Bud Light’s Super Bowl ad with Shane Gillis, Post Malone and Peyton Manning

Beginning with a colonoscopy joke and set at a cul-de-sac party in the ‘burbs, Bud Light’s Super Bowl commercial won’t be mistaken for a come-on to Gen Z. Instead, “Big Men on Cul-De-Sac” is loaded with zany dad energy, including a souped-up riding mower, a flying beer caught in a Jello mold and Peyton Manning in jorts and a fanny pack. And even as it evolves into the kind of raucous get-together Bud Light might once have set on a beach or in a bar, the naughtiness this time is limited to bending HOA association rules. Comedian Shane Gillis and musician Post Malone also star in the spot. The Anomaly-led ad is meant to stand up alongside Bud Light’s humorous Big Game productions of the past, execs of the Anheuser-Busch InBev brand said. The spot comes as the largest U.S. beer by volume looks to regain a firm footing following a deliberate attempt to tone down the slapstick humor and broaden its audience that started two Super Bowls ago. That effort was all but aborted weeks later when Bud Light engaged a transgender influencer and got caught in a months-long cultural crossfire between outraged fans and outraged trans rights advocates. Bud Light’s comeback strategy involves tightly aligning with crowd-pleasing properties—NFL, college and combat sports, and country music—and importantly, reinjecting laughter into the brand. Todd Allen, senior VP of marketing for Bud Light, said the humor in “Big Men on Cul-De-Sac” was not meant to target any particular demographic. Super Bowl commercials Tracking the latest brand and agency plans Click here “We’re confident that everyone will be able to see themselves, their friends, or their neighbors in the ‘BMOC’ spot,” Allen said in an email. “BMOCs are neighborhood heroes that exist in cul-de-sacs everywhere and we’re excited to have our campaign rally BMOCs around the country for this year’s Super Bowl.” Describing the brief, Allen said the brand was looking for a concept that would “put our fans first,” while delivering classic Bud Light humor, making use of its celebrity talent, and centering the spot around its “Easy to Enjoy” platform. “Every concept we reviewed had to check these four boxes to ensure our campaign felt authentic to Bud Light and would excite and resonate with our audience,” Allen said. “We’re extremely excited to build on Bud Light’s 35 years of iconic Super Bowl moments with this year’s work. I truly believe this is our funniest spot in years.” As many as it takes Similar to the “Bud Light Genie” in last year’s Super Bowl ad, Gillis and Malone together represent the brand’s promise of easy access to good times. When they’re called on by a neighbor to liven up a lame yard party, their smashing arrival is accompanied by Huey Lewis’ “Power of Love,” the time-traveling theme of “Back to the Future” which lends the ad the air of a 30-year rewind. Their cooler, roughly the size of a subway car, holds “as many Bud Lights as it takes,” Gillis tells Manning. A conservative-leaning comic who projects a regular-guy appeal, Gillis is proving an inspired choice as a Bud Light pitchman. He joined the brand for its college football campaign last fall, demonstrating a feel for Bud Light humor in co-written ads like “The Dean’s Office” and “Wrong Commercial,” each produced by his Range Media Partners agency. Gillis, too, has survived an episode of cancel culture, when he was fired from the “Saturday Night Live” cast in 2019 for having made racist and homophobic jokes on a podcast (he has since gone on to host “SNL”). Malone has been associated with Bud Light since 2019, including appearances in Super Bowl ads in 2020, 2021 and 2024. The tattooed singer’s recent turn toward country music has played into the brand’s embrace of the genre—Bud Light sponsored Malone’s recent tour as well as a concert he is performing to kick off Super Bowl weekend in New Orleans Feb. 8. Manning starred along with Malone in last year’s Super Bowl spot. “Post Malone, Shane Gillis and Peyton Manning played a critical role in how the creative came to life on set—there’s no one more likable or hilarious than these guys, especially when they come together … Humor is a staple of Bud Light advertising so we are continuing to do what we do best in delivering laugh-out-loud content—during the Super Bowl and beyond,” Allen said. Although trends improved over the course of 2024, Bud Light dollar sales were down by 12% and volume by 13%, according to Circana data from Beer Marketer’s Insights (volume was down 19% in 2023). That publication noted that Bud Light remains the largest U.S. beer brand by volume despite the heavy share losses over the last two years. “We know that millions of consumers choose Bud Light every day, and they continue to choose Bud Light when we bring the iconic Bud Light humor to the right platforms,” Allen said. “We believe our marketing is as exciting as it’s ever been and we’ll continue to make significant investments across Bud Light’s mega-platforms like NFL, college sports, UFC, and country music to bring fans the content and experiences they expect from Bud Light.”

Watch Bud Light’s Super Bowl ad with Shane Gillis, Post Malone and Peyton Manning

Featured Stories