Shane Gillis drinking a Bud Light for a college football game isn’t exactly headline news. A quick scroll through his Instagram and you can see the comedian and his friends enjoying the blue canned beverage while out at various events. In January Gillis announced a partnership with the beer as he headed out on a stand-up comedy tour.
But now the relationship between Gillis, 36, and the beer is a bit more formal. Gillis stars in and co-wrote a new campaign for Bud Light to kickoff college football season. In addition to the content rolling out across TV and social media, Bud Light is returning team cans for the 65 colleges on the brand’s roster.
“As a passionate college football fan himself, Shane was the perfect partner to connect to our college football audience with his distinct style of humor,” Todd Allen, Bud Light’s senior vice president of marketing, said in a release. “And it doesn’t hurt that (Gillis) loves a Bud Light or two on gameday.”
Gillis wastes no time drinking a Bud Light or two in the first commercial, “The Dean’s Office,” which USA TODAY Ad Meter can exclusively reveal. In it, the comedian plays Coach Herb, who is brought into the office for a meeting between the college dean and a football player in trouble. When a bucket of Bud Lights is offered in exchange for the truth, Coach Herb jumps in and admits his own personal secrets just to crack open a bottle.
In an exclusive statement to USA TODAY Gillis noted the obvious, that he’s a big Bud Light fan and was thrilled to work again for the brand with his long-time comedy partner John McKeever, who directed the content. Gillis also teamed up with “Tires” collaborator Steve Gerben.
“I’ve spent the past couple years working with (McKeever and Gerben) on projects from ‘Beautiful Dogs’ to Tires,’ Gillis said. “Getting to shoot new shorts with them and Bud was a lot of fun.”
“Tires” is a scripted comedy series on Netflix that debuted on the streamer’s top 10 and is already renewed for a second season. The show is a part of an extended deal announced earlier this year between Gillis and Netflix. The stand-up comedian also hosted “Saturday Night Live” in February, which made news for more than one reason. In 2019, “SNL” hired him, only to part ways with the comedian four days later. Gillis was fired after clips resurfaced in which he used racial and homophobic slurs in his jokes.
Gillis was born in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. He rose to fame following the “SNL” incident with “Shane Gillis: Live in Austin,” a self-funded debut special that garnered over 30 million views. According to a release, his show with comedian Matt McCusker is the number one Patreon podcast in the world with 500 million monthly downloads.
Get a first look at the full commercial below:
