At Super Bowl LV, Tom Brady led the Bucs to victory and with his seventh Super Bowl win, further solidified his case for earning the “GOAT” (Greatest of All-Time) label. Ironically, while this was all happening, legendary quarterback Joe Montana, who’s often referred to as the GOAT himself, appeared in a new commercial for beer brand Guinness to explore what the phrase greatest of all-time really means. The Irish stout decided to take a regional ad approach and ran its spot in Chicago, Orlando, and San Francisco, along with pre- and postgame in three additional markets.
It was a unique Super Bowl for beer commercials, as Budweiser opted to skip the national event for the first time in 37 years. This left an opening for other brands, including Samuel Adams and Molson Coors, to take a stab at capturing some market share from the leading beer company. Guinness, however, was the only brand to leverage an NFL superstar during the big game. In the commercial, Montana explains how being the GOAT is “about more than numbers” and, in a reference to the COVID-19 crisis among other things, he said, “It’s about how you come back—from a bad play or the hardest year ever.”
It’s been a challenging time for America, but Montana has aligned his personal brand with a beer brand he strongly believes in. Guinness Open Gate Brewery in Baltimore has been baking bread to donate to local communities in need, and it’s this message of hope and optimism that the beer company wants to deliver in its advertising.
“The commercial may be about selling beer, but it’s not about selling beer. We’re also trying to help people,” Montana told Adweek. Unlike other celebrity athletes, Montana was granted enormous creative freedom by Guinness during the creation of the ad.
It’s hard to unseat an incumbent like Budweiser in the beer market, but perhaps Guinness struck a chord with enough viewers to jump up in the rankings. According to Interpret’s New Media Measure®, Guinness currently trails other mainstream brands, including Michelob Ultra, Sam Adams, and Coors Light.
