Bud Light lets a celebrity ‘hold its beer’

Published December 4, 2013 at 8:13 am

Is there an element of desperation when a brand hands the reins to a celebrity auteur to try and spruce it up? Perhaps in some situations. But in the case of Bud Light’s new approach, it might actually be something of a better change of pace.

As the New York Times notes, the brand is switching from its previous tagline “Here We Go,” to a series of videos centering around the phrase “Hold My Beer.” It seems to be along the similar lines of fratty, informal humor that characterized the previous campaign. But there’s a key difference here: “Hold My Beer” comes, at least in part, from the mind of Jon Krasinski, a popular actor made famous from his role as Jim on “The Office.”

The hook of these commercials seems a little more focused than “Here We Go.” Whereas the latter could have applied to just about any situations, the three videos currently on the #holdmybeer YouTube channel play with the idea of the “drunken stunt” trope, with characters doing absurd things after telling their friends to “hold my beer” and “watch this.”

Though these videos do represent a shift somewhat, they don’t completely depart from the tone of the previous commercials, which were often loud, high-energy and absurd. In fact, if it weren’t making headlines due to Krasinski’s involvement, this initiative probably wouldn’t stand out as too much of a sea change from what the company has done before.

If that’s the case, then has this new approach succeeded? We probably won’t be able to tell until later, but it’s worth noting the things that distinguish it at this early stage.