Bud Light's Lame Sodomy Joke Ad

The latest puerile advertisement returns American beer marketing to its place at the bottom of the branding food chain. Sadly, it's a transparent and rather lame attempt to replicate the lowbrow stuff that agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky has been coming up with lately for fast food, particularly Burger King (BKC).

The ad, by DDB Chicago, depicts a series of people enthusing over how much they enjoy "getting it in the can." The can, of course contains Anheuser Busch-InBev's (ABI) Bud Light Lime.

"I never thought I'd enjoy getting it in the can as much as I do," says one woman. A long series of other people—a sunbather, a basketball player, and several others—say the same thing. Get it? It's a sodomy reference! Watching it isn't much different from hearing it described, but here you go:

Writes Jeremy Mullman on the Advertising Age blog, Adages: "The attempt at a Crispin-like 'oh, no they didn't' online splash comes at a time when A-B is urgently trying to revive flagship Bud Light's credentials as an edgy, humorous brand following an ill-considered detour from funny that has the brand facing the prospect of its first-ever full-year sales decline."

But the bottom line for A-B and DDB Chicago is whether the ads are effective. There is some question over whether Crispin's fast-food juvenilia, for all the attention it gets, has really helped Burger King any. But the Bud Light ads don't even measure up to that. The "in the can" line grows tedious before the spot is half over. Has DDB Chicago never heard of the Three Joke Rule?