Bud Light’s Pac-Man Superbowl Commercial…and Our Very Indirect Involvement

Last night on The Tonight Show, Bud Light’s new Superbowl ad premiered, featuring a life-sized playable Pac-Man maze, and I’m sure you’re probably wondering why a beer company known for ads targeted at jocks and/or featuring horses suddenly got so nerdy. You might have assumed a cheap cash-in.

You might not have assumed that a Topless Robot alumnus was vaguely involved. It’s Chris Ward, a Pac-Man superfan who famously owned a custom Pac-Man arcade game as old as he is for years, and also wrote our Krampus article that gets crazy traffic every Christmas season. Chris works for the company that worked WITH the company who created the ad: BBDO out of New York City. A 33 year-old “Mantern” there, it was a stretch for him to find any peripheral attachment, but now that he has, we are damn sure going to stretch and stress our peripheral attachment to him.

So no, this isn’t Bud Light co-opting nerds. This is nerds co-opting Bud Light. YES IT IS. Check out the actual ad below. And Chris, if you’re reading this – which I’m sure you are because you clued me in on this to begin with – see if you can get them to approve a Fan Fiction Friday theme next year.