Virals of the year: Bud Light sets Superbowl alight with Game of Thrones parody

Nov 27, 2019 | Ads, Content marketing, Video, Viral

Bud Light capitalised on the climax of Game of Thrones this year with a big budget Super Bowl ad.

The ad opens on a medieval jousting scene, where we are introduced to competitor, the Bud Knight.

The jovial light-hearted scene, follows on from the series of ‘Dilly Dillly’ medival-themed ads AB InBev have run since 2017. However, the tone gets darker as the commercial progresses.

As the Knight is knocked from his horse by a mountain-like figure and is subjected to a similar death to Oberyn Martell, it is then that the audience realises they are actually watching a promo for the final series of Game of Thrones.

The ad was quite bold, as the brand essentially killed off their mascot. This ad was realized by advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy in collaboration with HBO and Droga5.
The Super Bowl ad is part of the $20 million marketing campaign for the show’s final season.

The Wall Street Journal called the commercial “the biggest and boldest marketing tie-ins the AT&T Inc.-owned cable network has ever orchestrated.”

The commercial had input from a director of the HBO show, and a few other ideas for the spot were scrapped because the show was worried it would give away too much of the season finale’s plot line.

All topics

Previous editions

Get email edition