Tailgate Approved?

As we cross the midway point for the college and pro football seasons, all the hours and hours of commercials are really starting to sink in, finally penetrating the layers of malted hops and nacho resin that surround most die-hard fans’ brains. The one campaign in particular that has bubbled up into my consciousness during all those instant replay reviews is the Bud Light “Tailgate Approved” Spots.

If you’ve watched a single snap this season, odds are you’ve seen Jimmy Football hawking Bud Light tailgate gear to a crowd of rubes. The Grooler, the Foozie, the Tailgate Companion – all are a little ridiculous, but also very real (the Grooler has actually sold out at $125 a pop!). As for connecting with their audience, clearly Bud Light is speaking a language we manic, mad-genius tailgaters can definitely get on board with (why shouldn’t a dog have saddlebags full of mustard? Genius!). The commercials are spot on and the web site is well put together, down to the foam finger cursor pointer.

But the bigger question that has been kicked around on a few sites/blogs/etc. is “what about the memory of Billy Mays?” Clearly, Jimmy Football is modeled after Mays, albeit sans beard. Considering that Mays died in a freak accident back in June, I can understand some degree of fretting over the blue-shirted Jimmy Football character. But a good idea is a good idea, and these are pretty much the only beer ads that have broken through the clutter this season (and that is coming from a Coors man). So, for the folks who have asked “too soon?”, I guess I’d have to answer with a resounding…maybe not.

As an ad guy, the thing I am most shocked by is that this hasn’t drawn a lot of ire – and that it made it through the client’s approval channels apparently unscathed. Which goes to show good ideas can stand up – even in the face of (or total lack of) controversy. Just look at the Pepsi iphone app that helps Amp drinkers (there are Amp drinkers?) to “Amp up before you score”. Odds are that “outrage” has driven more downloads than the app could have hoped for, all at the cost of alienating an audience that doesn’t matter to Amp anyway. Seriously, when was the last time you saw a young lady drinking an Amp?

So pitch on Jimmy Football, I’m buying what you’re selling. Except for Bud Light, that is.