Lucasfilm marketing executive Jackson George, who is the VP of Creative Marketing at The Walt Disney Company, explained why the company decided to make a cheap imitation of a Budweiser advertisement to promote its The Mandalorian and Grogu film.
Lucasfilm released the 36-second spot during the Super Bowl that shows the Mandalorian and Grogu riding in a sled being pulled by Tauntauns on what appears to be the planet Hoth.
A narration done by Sam Elliott plays over it, “Sometimes we choose our path. Other times the path chooses us. Through it all we keep pushing forward. Driven by a deeper purpose. Guided by an unseen Force. The journey never gets any easier. The bond just gets harder to break. This is the way.”
“Grogu is more than a character; he’s a pop culture phenomenon. Riding alongside the heroic Mandalorian, he brings lightness, humor, joy, and an instant emotional connection that transcends the moment,” George explained to Variety. “This Big Game spot celebrates how deeply we love and connect with these characters, reminds us of the fun, heart, and spectacle that defines ‘Star Wars,’ and offers a bite-sized promise of the experience audiences will get when they see these two beloved icons on the big screen.”
Lucasfilm’s Marketing Brand Lead Ryan Stankevich added, “Our creative and marketing team landed on a unique concept that gave a nod to classic Big Game spots of years past.”
“It captured the warmth, humor, and emotional connection between these two beloved characters and was the perfect next step for our campaign as we lead up to their big screen debut this summer,” he said.
The fact that they decided to do a cheap imitation of a Budweiser ad is a huge mistake because it is a reminder that Lucasfilm and The Walt Disney Company do not see Star Wars as subcreation, but rather as a product something akin to cheap beer.
Not only is the ad a cheap imitation of a Budweiser ad and something that does not feel like Star Wars at all, but the voiceover is empty and meaningless. It’s a bunch of empty platitudes. Furthermore, Lucasfilm and The Walt Disney Company severed its bond with its audience years ago, and made that abundantly clear when they took the heroic figure of Luke Skywalker and deconstructed him to the point he was trying to murder his own nephew.
In conclusion, the ad does not get one interested in seeing The Mandalorian and Grogu. Rather it is a reminder that Lucasfilm is creatively bankrupt and all they have left to rely on are cheap imitations when they are not outright attempting to destroy the property they were given the duty to oversee.
I dunno. I didn't watch the Superdoodybowl.
What nimrod greenlit this abomination?
You can't just glom onto another successful advertising campaign. It feels fake and unoriginal. You especially can't do that while being fake sincere and sappy. That makes the piggybacking even worse when you're trying to ride someone else's sentimentality wave.
Of all the times they've been inappropriately ironic--this was once to actually do it. Distinguish yourself in some way so you're not just serving reheated leftovers.
And Budweiser? Really? Who are they trying to appeal to here? The type of people that might have responded well to sentimentality already left after Bud Light 40%ed itself with Dylan Trans-veiny.
Not to mention the awful CGI. AI chatbots could have made a better 15-20 second video clip. I've watched entire LOTR rock and disco opera videos 30 times longer and twice as good looking.
Finally, in their rush to pay homage and be clever, they didn't let the dumb audience in on the conceit. I actually had to stop and think to realize that WASN'T an actual teaser trailer for the film--as in: that's not an actual scene they're showing us. I bet there's plenty of people thinking that WAS part of the movie and commenting on how crap it looks.