Kevin Bacon and Budweiser Team Up on 'Six Degrees' Super Bowl Commercial — See the Full Ad
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Kevin Bacon just added six new connections to his roster.
On Tuesday, Budweiser debuted "Six Degrees of Budweiser," the beer company's regional Super Bowl commercial with narration by Bacon. PEOPLE spoke to the actor about his role in the ad that is inspired by the concept that people are, at most, six social connections away from one another.
The Footloose actor was the perfect choice for the spot because of six degrees of Kevin Bacon, a game invented in 1994 by three Albright College students. It challenges people to connect actors to Bacon in six film connections or less.
"It wasn't until I actually saw the spot that I said to myself, 'Oh, that's right. A six-pack is six degrees of connection," Bacon, 64, tells PEOPLE. "I didn't even think to myself, 'Oh, of course, they're coming to me.' I just thought they wanted me because of my voice."
"I've always felt that the actual idea, which, by the way, existed many years before I was attached to it ... is a beautiful concept," he says of six degrees of separation. "If you take me out of the game, we are all connected."
Budweiser's ad depicts six real-life individuals passing a six-pack of beer through different scenes to one another. From a construction worker, to a food truck owner, and even a music producer, Bacon tells PEOPLE that "everybody who's in this ad are real people who have had their own personal struggles to overcome."
Dominik Bindl/WireImage; Budweiser
At the end of the commercial, one of the stars grabs the final beer bottle out of the six-pack and offers it to the viewer as Bacon says, "This bud's for you." According to a release from Budweiser, the beer company's reintroducing this phrase as its tagline with this commercial during the big game.
"I'm sure there's Super Bowl ads where you go, 'Yeah, but what were they trying [to sell]?' I don't think this is one of them," says Bacon.
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When reflecting more on the concept of six degrees of separation, Bacon discussed a hypothetical conversation between two strangers at an airport bar.
"If they strike up a conversation, they're going to try to find connections," he tells PEOPLE. "They're going to try to say, 'Oh, where are you from? Oh, yeah. My cousin has a friend who's from Des Moines.' That's what we do."
"It is something that we are hungry for," says Bacon. "That's what I think is cool about the spot. I think it's very clever to take that idea of a six-pack of Budweiser and use that six degrees concept."
Budweiser's 30-second ad will air regionally during Super Bowl LVII, which takes place on Feb. 12 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. A 45-second version is now live on their YouTube channel.
