Twitter loves 'Game of Thrones'-Bud Light Super Bowl commercial

Stephen Proctor

Just one minute into the second quarter there was no doubt who won the Super Bowl: Bud Light and Game of Thrones. What first appeared to be just another medieval-themed Bud Light commercial took a dark, and hilarious, turn. It started off peaceful enough. Everyone with a bottle of Bud Light, the king musing that the sun’s out, he’s got his lucky loincloth, a comfy throne, and he no longer has the plague. The perfect day for a joust. Then the unthinkable happened: The Bud Knight lost the joust, and that’s when viewers were treated to an unexpected surprise.

The Mountain, Ser Gregor Clegane, from Game of Thrones stepped into frame and did the same to the Bud Knight as he did to Prince Oberyn in Season 4: The Mountain crushed the knight’s skull … supposedly. Obviously the commercial didn’t show the act in the same graphic detail as the show.

Then Drogon swooped in and gave the crowd the Lannister army treatment, meaning he spit fire as they fled. Just a quick reminder, as if fans of the show need one, that the final season of Game of Thrones is just around the corner.

Fans of the show were understandably delighted with the crossover.

According to the Wall Street Journal, that the commercial was months in the making and the centerpiece of a $20 million campaign to promote the final season of Game of Thrones. HBO reportedly considered partnering with other key brands, including car makers and Coca-Cola (having one of the animated polar bears turn into a White Walker), but settled on Bud Light because its “Dilly Dilly” series of commercials seemed like a perfect thematic fit. The commercial had creative input from show creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss and was directed by David Nutter, who has helmed several GoT episodes, including the seminal “Red Wedding.”

Meanwhile, Morningstar reported that Bud Lite brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev grew nervous through the process and reluctantly conceded to the death of the Bud Knight but only after the sequence was toned down to avoid being too graphic for viewers.

Game of Thrones premieres April 14 on HBO.

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