Anheuser-Busch Does It Again -- Truly Fun Commercial for the 2020 NFL Season

It's apparent that times are strange. The mask thing is just one facet of our 2020 life experience, accompanied by markers on the floor spaced six feet apart in every public space. Strangest of all, IMHO, are the cardboard fans for baseball and football, accompanied by fake crowd noise. 

What I keep thinking is, when will Hollywood make films about events in 2020 in which the characters put on masks when they go to the store? (If this has already happened let me know in the comments.) 

Scott Adams, earlier than anyone else, had Dilbert and his co-workers masked, a cutting edge on the wave one might expect to be coming. That was at least a couple months ago, and still we see no masks on Dagwood and Blondie, Zits characters, the Lockhorns, Pickles or Rex Morgan.

So it was tremendously fun to catch the new Bud Light spot this past week during my few minutes watching the Browns get shanked by Pittsburgh. I have not been watching much football this year, so maybe this was not the debut weekend for it, but it was absolute fun. There will be a link below if you haven't seen it. 

The two minute spot opens with a brief long shot showing a professional sports stadium, then cuts to the camera facing the stands, crowded with cardboard cutouts as stand-ins for fans. One of the cardboard cutouts, our hero, spots a cardboard cutout of a beer vendor. (At this point it is a world of Flat Stanleys.) He proceeds to stand and slide out to make his way there for a Bud Light. Unfortunately, there is no beer left in the beer basket.

Our hero decides to go explore. Maybe he can find a beer elsewhere under the stands. Lucky he. A forklift loaded with cases of Bud Light. As he approaches the forklift, a worker says, "Hey! Can I help you?" 

Our hero, with his usual chagrined expression, quickly hurries off. As he leaves the stadium he sees a Bud Light delivery truck parked across the street. Unfortunately, he doesn't look both ways when crossing the street (a challenge without a real neck) so that he is struck by a car. Our flat hero is flattened against the windshield of a bus. The bus driver flips him aside with the flick of a windshield wiper.

His expression never changing--a cross between bemused nobody-in-particular and hapless hero--he ends up on the street, walked on, staring skyward. Shortly after he ends up in a dumpster where suddenly, there on the side of a building, he finds inspiration once again by a giant ad for Bud Light. 

After a quick interlude in the back of a garbage truck he ends up on his feet again and continues his quest. I won't spoil the ending. To see the actual spot here's the hotlink: Cardboard Cutout Seeks to Quench His Thirst

Kudos to the ad agency that invented this story, a tall tale perfectly suited for our maddening postmodern times. 

Dylan's Blowing in the Wind Gets a New Twist in Super Bowl LIII

I first heard the song when Eddie Hilliker loaned me The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan of which "Blowing in the Wind" was the opening track. Its breadth and heartfelt simplicity was striking. I was in seventh grade.

This weekend millions of people will be hearing that same, simple yet thought-provoking song in an Oscar-nominated commercial featuring the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales and wind power. OK, no, I made that up about an Oscar nomination, but it really is a beautifully filmed spot. And like everything else Bob does it's generating buzz.

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When we took our daughter to college--the University of Minnesota, Morris--we were surprised to learn that the wind turbine there supplied 60% of the school's electrical power. The school is located on the flatlands of Western Minnesota and as you drive that long stretch of two-lane blacktop from Sauk Center to Morris, the wind turbine in the distance serves as the first sign that you are nearing your destination.

When several years later my daughter and her husband went back to Morris to marry, the wedding taking place in a park near what are now two wind turbines. Dylan was part of that experience as well, as I walked her down the "aisle" to Love Minus Zero/No Limit.

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As for the commercial, it is a remarkable piece of camerawork, filmed entirely in a single shot. By drone? The title of the spot is "Wind Never Felt Better" which has multiple layers to it.

It opens with the wind blowing on a dog's face, the little fellow clearly enjoying it. Then the camera pulls back and we see those famous Clydesdales pulling the Budweiser wagon across a field. Toward the end, just as the wind is mentioned for the first time in the song, the angle shifts again to reveal the turbines generating electricity.

The choreography is simply splendid. Every facet shows a masterful touch. From the opening emotional connection to the final logo on one of the turbines as the camera pulls away, every detail seems to have been considered.

Some may suggest that Dylan has sold out once again, permitting capitalists to degrade this anthem of the Sixties. In response I would suggest otherwise. What a great way to resurrect this important song, to widen its reach in a new era, in a period of time as turbulent as those early days of cultural upheaval. And just as the wind is generating energy for Budweiser now, "Blowin' in the Wind" energized a generation.

* * * *
Here are the lyrics for the whole of the song, still worth pondering today.

How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, ’n’ how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, ’n’ how many times must the cannonballs fly
Before they’re forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
The answer is blowin’ in the wind

How many years can a mountain exist
Before it’s washed to the sea?
Yes, ’n’ how many years can some people exist
Before they’re allowed to be free?
Yes, ’n’ how many times can a man turn his head
Pretending he just doesn’t see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
The answer is blowin’ in the wind

How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, ’n’ how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, ’n’ how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
The answer is blowin’ in the wind

Copyright © 1962 by Warner Bros. Inc.; renewed 1990 by Special Rider Music

Dylan has performed the song live 1552 times since April 1962, most recently at the Beacon Theater in New York this past December 1. The song has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and ranks #14 on Rolling Stone's list of 500 greatest songs of all time.

Related Links
Kate Street's Simplemost account of the new Budweiser spot.
Wind Energy Statistics
Infographics and Stats from the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA)

TRIVIA: Today is the 60th Anniversary of the evening when Bobby Zimmerman went with his friend Louis Kemp to see Buddy Holly and the Winter Dance Party at the Historic Duluth Armory.