After all the hype, Bud Light's "whatever happens" is just... "whatever." (Part 1)

You can almost hear the advertising agency's pitch to the (now-departed) Bud Light marketing chief. Ad-guy in black shirt: "It's simple and beautiful: We're going to take one lucky guy to THE COOLEST PARTY EVER!!" 

How do I know this? Because I've seen ideas like Bud Light's COOLEST PARTY EVER presented before. And so have other beer- brand marketing folks. Take a look.

Heineken has used the super-cool-dude-at-the-COOLEST PARTY EVER for a few years now. (Sales are off by 20% or so.)

And at last year's SuperBowl, none other than Budweiser Black Crown gave us their interpretation of the COOLEST PARTY EVER to launch a brand that was pretty much stillborn in the market.

"No, no, you don't get it!" protest the clever people from the ad agency. "See, we're actually going to PICK ONE REAL GUY and take him to the COOLEST PARTY EVER. Then we'll have hidden cameras there to record every amazing moment!"

"Pretty much the way Heineken did?" I ask.

Silence. Then...

"But ours will be SO MUCH COOLER!"

In spite of two weeks' worth of teaser ads which appeared to concentrate solely on REALLY COOL stuff, we still had hoped for something in the new Bud Light ads that would make the brand special. This is what we call "Job #1" for any ad.

Our hopes rose, then crashed. It turned out "the perfect beer for whatever happens" concentrates entirely on the "whatever happens," with not a moment devoted to establishing "the perfect beer" part. Heck, you can barely see the brand name on the bottles the actors are holding. Any beer could have taken you to THE COOLEST PARTY EVER, as indeed any number already have.

How did Bud Light go so wrong? 

Stay tuned for Part 2.