One of the most depressing things about watching the Super Bowl north of the border is that us Canadians don't get to watch (almost) all of those amazing commercials. You know, the ones that, come Monday morning, everyone is talking about at both their off and online water coolers. Sure, there's also the game itself to discuss but that's just for the sports fans where the spectacle of the commercials are for everyone to enjoy... if you're in the right region.
However, even though the big money advertisements aren't being broadcast on our feeds - Canadians get Canadian commercials, like Tim Hortons spots on repeat - this time, one of the Budweiser Canada commercials has broken the barrier and gone viral south border. The ad was uploaded to the Budweiser Canada YouTube page on the first of the month and has already received about a half a million views. Not bad for a Canadian commercial about rec league hockey.
Apparently, as the opening titles explain, Budweiser informed the two teams as well as the refs that they were coming to film a documentary. What those involved didn't know was that the beer company had actually hired thousands of extras to arrive, fill the stands and cheer on both squads as well as bringing in announcers and various other professional hockey accouterments to make the participants really feel like they were playing in the pros. It's a pretty great ad that does a wonderful job of building the tension for that intense and emotional payoff at the end. I play rec league hockey and can only imagine how incredible that would have been (except that I suck and don't want an audience). And for all you doubters out there, and there are already clamors of the event being completely 'staged,' I'll simply point you to the top comment on the video watch page.
To all those that think this was fake or staged, you could not be more wrong. I was one of the refs for this game. Even we did not know ahead of time what was? going to happen. Really was a great experience. And yes, there really was a kerfufle.
Sure, that might be another line from Budweiser but I will hold back my innate internet cynicism and choose to believe that this really took place as filmed. What do you think? Did you like the ad? Real or staged?
