Apparently HBO Demanded That The Bud Knight Would Be Killed During Last Night's Bud Light x Game Of Thrones Super Bowl Commercial
WARNING: Game Of Thrones Spoilers from Season 4 for people who aren’t done rewatching
WSJ- When HBO made its approach in August, Bud Light executives and its ad firm Wieden + Kennedy learned this wasn’t going to be an ordinary ad: The script called for the Bud Knight to get his head crushed while fighting the Mountain, a fearsome warrior, in a joust—a nod to the way the Mountain killed Oberyn Martell in season 4.
Bud initially agreed. But uneasy with the violence, the company wobbled as filming began—even suggesting alternative ideas such as having the Knight get beaten up, but live. HBO’s Marketing Chief Chris Spadaccini said he made it clear: “The Bud Knight had to die.”
Just wanted to shout out to the good people at Bud Light and HBO for making last night’s commercial happen the way it did, which was probably the highlight of the Super Bowl for people that are not Patriots fans or did not win any money. I can understand Bud Light potentially being skittish about having a character that has helped sell millions of gallons of beer have his head popped like a grape during a game where millions of kids and easily outraged people are watching. And I respect Game of Thrones for being true to the #brand built by that sick fuck George R.R. Martin and choosing violence above all else. Anything less than crazy twists and brutal deaths wouldn’t have felt like Thrones.
It also turns out that the Bud Knight wasn’t the only advertising mascot that was in the running to get murdered in the name of the Iron Throne.
HBO considered several potential partners, including car makers and Coca-Cola Co. The beverage giant was never approached, but HBO had envisioned pitching a script that involved having Coke’s iconic polar bear turn into a “white walker,” a zombielike creature from the show.
Holy shit, can you imagine if one of those cute ass Coke polar bears turned into a white walker marching alongside the army of the undead as an ice dragon flew overhead? Goosebumps. What about The Jolly Green Giant becoming Wun Wun 2.0 and ripping soldiers from House Bolton in half or Tony The Tiger taking on Cap’n Crunch in a trial by combat? I would lump Mr. Peanut into the mix, but he is apparently a wild boi that was tweeting shit crazier than anything HBO was probably ready to do without an MC-17 rating and the Strong Sexual Content warning that always is greeted to thunderous applause before an episode of Thrones.
My only question from all this is if the Bud Knight and everybody in the Dilly Dilly Kingdom are actually dead. Now I know what you are saying. Clem, this is a commercial, why are you picking it apart? Well, I want to know where we stand with the Bud Light character universe before March Madness, the NFL Draft, the NBA Playoffs, and even next year’s NFL season. We know that the Dilly Dilly commercials run the advertising streets. Which is why I want to know if last night marked the end of the Dilly Dilly Kingdom or if it was all a ruse to plug Game of Thrones. I doubt The Mountain is going to be on a #superteam with Khaleesi’s dragons once Thrones starts back up. So why should we believe that the Bud Knight is dead if we never saw his head explode or if that commercial is canon? Any Thrones fan knows that if you don’t see someone die on screen, that person is never technically dead if you don’t want to believe it. Shit, even [Spoiler] died right in front of our faces after having his neck slit quick last season and people are making conspiracy videos about him being still alive.
Well unless Bud Light pulls an M. Night Shyamalan twist on our asses, the Bud Knight is dead as fuck. #RIPInPeace
Could he come back as a white walker on the show? I know people who want Thrones to be pure and commercial free may not love it, but we got a dragon in last night’s commercial. You know how expensive it is to create a dragon on screen? I’m not sure of the exact answer but it’s like a kabillion dollars a second. I could live with Bud Light throwing the Bud Knight in there for a scene or so as well as people during the next Thrones wedding drinking Bud Light at the reception if it means we can get more dragon money. There are only 6 episodes left. I need HBO to do whatever it takes to get as much money for this final season to be jaw dropping. And as someone that got to go on an all expense paid trip to Las Vegas and live like Portnoy for a weekend, there is nobody in the world I would want to help out with that than my very good friends at Bud Light. #BudLightBusters
Also for those interested a Thrones rewatch, we are kicking off the one episode per night rewatch on Wednesday.
I don’t know if I will do nightly recaps on Instagram, on the blog, or anywhere else. Or if my kids will allow me to even watch one episode to night. But if you want to watch along with some Stoolies or go at your own pace, we should have some pretty good Thrones content coming down the pipe as we make our slow march to the season premiere.