Did the Bud Light Super Bowl Ad Cheapen ‘Game of Thrones’?

Game of Thrones delivered its most zeitgeist-y twist last weekend when they crashed a Bud Light commercial during the Super Bowl. The ad started out normally enough. The Bud Knight arrived at a goofy jousting tournament and asked a servant to hold his beer. Nothing really extraordinary or clever there. But then the Bud Light mascot gets brutally knocked off his horse and it’s revealed his opponent is none other than Ser Robert Strong, aka the Mountain, aka the Frankenstein version of Ser Gregor Clegane.  Ser Robert Strong then proceeds to crush the Bud Knight’s skull in a nod to fan favorite Oberyn Martell’s gruesome death, and then the Game of Thrones main theme blasts as Drogon descends to murder them all in flame.

It was a clever coup in the advertising side of things. Never before have we seen too such disparate brands join forces for a shocking Super Bowl ad. But how does the ad help either company — beyond generating chatter? More importantly, did the ad cheapen Game of Thrones as a show?

I’ve heard quite a few people, laymen and industry insiders alike, complain that the Bud Knight/Game of Thrones crossover is bad for both brands. Bud Light straight up massacred its own mascot, and Game of Thrones looks less prestigious now that it’s in the Super Bowl stunt realm. However, from an advertisement point of view, I would argue the spot was a success. After all, we’re still talking about it days after the fact.

Still, there’s the concern that it now looks like Game of Thrones, a prestigious premium cable show that holds the record for the most Emmy wins, is slumming it with a demented beer spokesman known for saying, “Dilly dilly!” Not only that, but HBO is supposed to be “above” such stunts. Game of Thrones is a classy show, full of tits and dragons.

The problem with this is that Game of Thrones isn’t exactly pure art house fare. It is the single most popular scripted show in the world and it has spawned a licensing empire. There are Game of Thrones toys, tees, wine vintages, beer brands, stemware, and fashion bags. The President of the United States has stolen its catchphrases for propaganda. Ed Sheeran had a cameo where he sang a nice song. Game of Thrones wasn’t cheapened by the Bud Light commercial so much was it embracing its current cultural cache.

Game of Thrones is so big that it didn’t need to drop money on a Super Bowl advertisement to hype its new season. Not so long ago, anticipation for news about the show inspired thousands of people to watch a block of ice melt for almost an hour. The fantasy epic series is doing just fine in terms of brand visibility. Likewise, it doesn’t need to show fans new footage or drop a trailer to build excitement. So they did this to show off their swagger basically. The Bud Knight commercial was a clever way for Game of Thrones to not only show its supremacy as a pop culture juggernaut, but also to remind everyone that it is the show most likely to defy your expectations in awfully shocking ways.

Nothing was cheapened because Game of Thrones is the biggest, baddest show in town and nothing but a truly terrible ending will break the show’s stride.

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