This first-quarter Super Bowl XLIII ad for Bud Light takes place in an office where costs must be cut. "We could cut back on marketing," one person suggests. "We could eliminate bonuses," offers another. 

Then some poor fool makes the mistake of suggesting that free beer perhaps isn’t the best use of company money and is nearly killed for it.

"The night's theme of workplace anxiety is established," Time magazine TV critic James Poniewozik wrote; see also Hyundai's "Contract" and E-Trade's "Wings" for a taste of the economic mood in February 2009. 

Anheuser-Busch’s then-Chief Creative Officer Bob Lachky said "Meeting" spot tested extremely well in pre-game research. USA Today's Ad Meter gauging entertainment value validated that, awarding the ad 10th place.

Like all three Bud Light ads in Super Bowl XLIII (plus one for the fledgling Bud Light Lime), "Meeting" was created by DDB Chicago.

Director: Erich Joiner, who also directed Bud Light's "Skier" in the same game, among other Super Bowl work. Production company: Tool of North America. Editing: The Whitehouse Post. Editor: Kevin Zimmerman.

BRAND: Bud Light

YEAR: 2009

AGENCY: DDB

SUPERBOWL: XLIII

QUARTER AIRED: Q1