Budweiser Canada Super Bowl Ad: New Commercial Classic or Blatant Concept Theft?

I’m an advertising junkie, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a great magazine spread, a cleverly designed business card or a massive billboard on the side of a busy highway. I love them all. When I look at these ads, I like to sit and wonder how the designers came up with the concepts – how they managed to create something that could evoke so many emotions and impart so much information in just a few short seconds. C’mon, even if you hate advertisements, you have to appreciate all of the creativity and thought it takes to produce good ones.

I especially love television commercials. TV ads are like micro-stories that not only entertain, but also connect us to a place and time in our past. I remember sniffling when Mean Joe Green threw his jersey to that kid who gave him a Coke. Instead of thinking about all the controversy that surrounded Michael Jackson in his later years, I like to remember the guy from the Pepsi commercials. To this very day, I still quote lines from old Life cereal commercials to tease my brother Mikey. He’s a picky eater, too.

So, it should come as no surprise that I’m a huge fan of Super Bowl commercials. These ads are the best of the best. At least, they better be good when you consider how much sponsors have to pay to buy that coveted air time. In the old days (you know, like a couple of years ago), we had to wait until Super Bowl Sunday for these awesome commercials to debut. Nowadays, with the Internet and YouTube, sometimes we get an early sneak peak – and we can watch them whenever we like.

For the last week or so, I’ve been following all the tweets and Google+ posts sharing links to Super Bowl commercial previews. In particular, I was drawn in by a new ad from Budweiser Canada. Just in case you haven’t seen it yet (it wasn't shown in the US) and you want to know what I’m talking about, here it is.

I thought this commercial was simply brilliant. After watching it a dozen times, it still left me with that warm, mushy, happy feeling inside. It may even have caused a small tear to form in the corner of my eye – but if anyone asks, I’m totally blaming that on the jalapeño nachos. 

Against my better judgment, I decided to read the comments made by other YouTube viewers. In general, I usually try to avoid these because … Well, if you’ve ever read many YouTube comments, you know what I mean. I’m glad I did read them this time, though, because something interesting floated up above the spam and nonsense. It turns out that this commercial isn’t quite as creative and original as I had first thought.

In the Bud ad, two recreational hockey teams are surprised and treated to an experience of what it’s like to play in the big leagues. This was the first time that I had witnessed this concept in action, but it seems like it’s been done several times before. In particular, there’s another video on YouTube that documents a very similar mission undertaken by Improv Everywhere several years ago. Instead of recreational hockey players, the stars were two Little League teams. Here’s that video, so you can compare for yourself.

After seeing the Improv Everywhere video, it seemed pretty clear that Budweiser Canada had borrowed some ideas. But, does that really take away from the awesomeness of the hockey commercial? No matter what, the Bud ad is an amazing execution of a wonderful concept – and watching it still gives me that warm and fuzzy feeling. To be perfectly honest, I probably would never have known about the Improv Everywhere video if I hadn’t traced my way back to it from the Bud commercial. Despite that, there does seem to be something that’s just a little unfair about the whole situation.

There’s definitely nothing new about recycling ideas and building creative works on the foundations of others. In fact, many people argue that there really aren’t any totally new ideas left and everything should be classified as a derivative work. There is one thing different in today’s world, though – the public is watching this sort of activity a lot more closely. And, word travels fast. This entire situation came to light and was debated on numerous forums before the Bud commercial even made its television debut.

It will be interesting to see how and if Budweiser Canada responds to the controversy – or if the beer giant decides to ignore it altogether. What do you think? Should companies be more open about where they get their ideas and become a little more sensitive when it comes to acknowledging the work of others? Is this issue really not that big a deal? If you think Budweiser Canada should respond, what should the company say?

By the way, this isn't the only Budweiser Super Bowl ad that's creating a stir. Check out Lisa Tucker's thoughts on the partnership of GE and Budweiser in the Power and Beer commercial.

Photo Credit: PhotoSpin/Design Pics