Bud Light has partnered with comedian Shane Gillis, and so far that appears to be paying off in earning back some goodwill for the beer brand.
Videos by Wide Open Country
The beer brand's partnership with Gillis appears to be about mending fences with its customer-base. This comes after a boycott affected beer sales for Bud Light. Gillis has garnered a following for his anti-woke comedy. With Gillis in the commercial, Bud Light is hoping to garner some positive headlines for a change.
In the commercial, Gillis plays a football coach in the office with the college dean and a football player. The dean attempts to entice the football player into confessing to cheating by offering him beer. But, Gillis' coach confesses to a smaller lie in order to get a beer. Soon, everyone is confessing to white lies for a Bud Light.
The immediate response to the commercial seems positive. In particular, viewers said that Steven Gerben, who appears in the commercial alongside Gillis, stole the show. One wrote, "Gerbies definitely takes karate classes in real life." Another wrote, "Godd--nit thank you guys for letting Steve Gerbin play himself." ANother wrote, "Gerbles forgot to make his bed this morning." Yet another wrote, "Gerbies would have confessed if it was chocolate milk."
Some would like to see the commercial turned into a show. One wrote, "Deans office should be a show with Shane as the coach." Another wrote, "Whoever reached out to the UFC and Shane for the company promo needs a raise, he (and definitely a he) saved the company."
Bud Light Commercial Reaction
However, not everyone was a fan. Some weren't ready to let the beer brand off the hook. One wrote, "Say no to gay beer." Another wrote, "When I'm famous and we're on Rogan together I'm gonna be like 'dude you're so gay for taking the bud light money.'" Yet another wrote, "Didn't know Shane was trans."
Anheuser-Busch, the parent company of Bud Light, drew controversy for partnering with transgender comedian Dylan Nulvaney for a commercial and beer label. CEO Brendan Whitworth said, "We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer."
Later, Michel Doukeris, the CEO of Anheuser-Busch InBev, also spoke on the matter. He said, "This was the result of one can. It was not made for production or sale to general public. It was one post, not a formal campaign or advertisement."
