The truly dedicated football fan—the kind of guy who toasts the Buffalo Bills in his best man’s speech—is celebrated in an ad kicking off the 2024 NFL season for Bud Light.

“Easy to Sunday 2.0,” from The Martin Agency, positions Bud Light as a reward for all the hard work that goes into gameday football fandom, from face-painting to jersey steaming. It represents something of an intensification of last year’s Bud Light NFL ad, a loving homage to the gameday rituals of everyday fans set to “Sunday Kind of Love.” This year, the treatment is a little louder and more energetic, with Bud Light flowing, cheering crowds and a comic performance by Peyton Manning, whose gameday task is finding the right quarter-zip sweater.

“No matter how hard you football, it’s easy to Sunday,” a voiceover says.

Look back to fall 2023: Bud Light’s NFL campaign begins as brand struggles persist

The move to inject more fun into its game comes as Bud Light seeks to regain consideration following its social-media debacle of 2023, when a partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney enraged Bud Light’s right-wing fans and sent sales plummeting. A year later, sales remain down—recent Circana data shared by Beer Marketer’s Insights showed an 18% decline year-to-date through July 14.

On the bright side, executives at parent Anheuser-Busch InBev, speaking on a conference call earlier this month, noted Bud Light is still a substantial brand despite its troubles. And leveraging partnerships that align the brand with platforms that fans are passionate about, like the NFL, could lead to growth in the second half of the year. This marks the 28th season that Bud Light has been the official beer of the NFL.

Bud Light has separate partnerships with 27 NFL teams; 24 of them are featured in limited can and aluminum bottle designs this year that are also shown in the ad. Bud Light is also offering fans access to the NFL, continuing a partnership with YouTube to give away NFL Sunday Ticket subscriptions, allowing fans to stream out-of-market games.

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• The best ads of 2024 (so far).
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• Nike’s Olympics campaign explores the winner’s mindset.
• Channel 4 made a hard-hitting Paris 2024 Paralympics ad.
• 15 hidden gems among the Cannes Lions winners.
• Meet the interns who won gold in Cannes for a poop joke.
• Nick Cohen looks back at Mads Dogs & Englishmen.

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