When the NFL season kicks off on Thursday, Sept. 8, Bud Light, a brand of St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch, will be celebrating the fans that have made football the No. 1sport in America, it says. Bud Light, also the Official Beer Sponsor of the NFL, already has released 720 million of its newly redesigned NFL team cans and will launch a nationwide marketing campaign featuring those cans along with a TV spot starring former NFL players Bo Jackson, Justin Tuck and Tim Couch, the company says.
Debuting during Thursday Night Football, the 75-second film was directed by music and film director Mark Romanekand and includes a voiceover by actor Michael K. Williams. Titled “This is Your Can’s Year,” the film takes viewers on a journey around the league, encapsulating what the game day fan experience and tradition is like among NFL teams, the company says. Fans also will be able to catch 15- and 30-second versions of the spot throughout the season, as well as unique team-specific Bud Light spots in their local markets. All creative is being led by Bud Light's lead creative agency Wieden+Kennedy, it adds.
“Just like wearing your favorite player's jersey or team colors is a badge of honor, so is drinking from your Bud Light team can,” said Mark Goldman, senior marketing director of Bud Light, in a statement. “Our mission with our new film was to pay tribute to the passion fans feel for their team and capture the optimism that we all feel as NFL fans at the beginning of the season, when it truly can be your team's year.”
Along with ads running throughout the NFL season, the comprehensive NFL campaign leverages key elements of the brand’s NFL partnerships and features a mix of radio, print, digital, programmatic advertising and retail elements. To officially mark the kickoff of the NFL season, Bud Light will ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, it says. Throughout the season Bud Light also will kick off each week’s first game as the presenting sponsor of Thursday Night Football on CBS and the NFL Network, integrating the brand and its NFL team cans throughout the broadcast, it adds.
“The game wouldn't be the same for us players without the fans who put their heart and soul into game day,” said Tuck. “The Bud Light ad honors each and every one of these fans and their passion for the sport.”
In addition to being the Official Beer Sponsor of the NFL, Bud Light has local agreements with 28 NFL teams, each of which has limited-edition, team-specific packaging, which allows fans to take their team spirit to a whole new level, it says. Taking inspiration from classic football jerseys, this season’s bold and simplistic 12-ounce team cans feature the new Bud Light logo, the team’s logo and colors, and the NFL logo. The cans will be brought to life in each market through out-of-home advertising featuring localized, signature phrases that team fans will recognize and embrace, it adds.
