A Look Back: Super Bowl 2014

I was a serial focus grouper.?It’s true, and I’m not embarrassed to say it.?For a good 10 year period I must have done over 200 focus groups.?I sat in a room in Soho House NY ranking attire for Gap’s Fall line and walked out with $200.?I spent an evening sampling different Belgian beers, and left with $150 and four bottles of Duvel.?I simply knew how to answer screeners to be exactly who brands wanted to talk to.?I was younger, needed extra cash, and had no problem devoting a free 2-3 hours to chatting it up with random people about the direction of various brands.?While I may have not had kids (diaper focus group) or liked to frequently hike (outerwear focus group) at least I always participated and gave feedback, so don’t look down on me.

I’d brag to friends.

“I sat in a room for 2 hours, discussed shaving cream, left with $150.”

They’d roll their eyes, but also asked how they could get involved.?Both of my younger brothers were in the same boat.?They wanted in. They were tired of hearing about the extra cash I was pulling in and wanted me to pass along the opportunities in hopes of them getting on “the circuit.”?In December of 2013 I received an email from a woman who had screened me for focus groups in the past.?She was looking for guys 25-30 for a focus group.?The qualifications were “testosterone driven, sports watching, beer swilling, risk taking guys ages 25-30 yrs old that were really outgoing and gregarious” and she told me to reach out to any friend that fit the profile.?Participants would be paid $100 for an hour of their time (in cash).?This was a no brainer, I was in.?Easy “hundo.”?On top of that, a select few would be invited to participate in a “super focus group” for $1,000.?I had no doubt I’d be raking in a nice amount of extra cash in the coming weeks.

I shot out an email to a few friends – including my brothers – and told them to hop on the opportunity.?It was close to the holidays and who couldn’t use an extra $100? The one annoying thing was that in order to participate in the focus group you had to fill out an open-ended questionnaire.?It took a good 15 minutes, and included questions like “what’s your biggest passion” and “describe an epic night out.”

I knew the drill and filled it out quickly, bouncing it back to the woman in charge, but it was within minutes that I got an email back from my brother Ian that simply said –

“I don’t want to fill this out, ha”

I rolled my eyes, and responded with “Then don't complain when I make a grand come January.”?I wasn’t even focused on the $100, I knew I’d be picked for the super group without a doubt.

I went to the focus group in some high-rise in Midtown Manhattan, and it was a bit strange.?I was used to the big rooms with 10+ people around a table, but there was a small waiting room with two or three other guys and a closed door.?After a few minutes I was called in, and saw the woman who screened me, a gigantic camera set up, and two or three other people.?All in all it took about fifteen minutes and we chatted about my job, my biggest regret in life, what I liked to drink, and what I did when I went out at night.?They handed me a $100 bill and sent me on my way.?Easiest money ever made.?About three or four days later I received another email asking if I could come back for another interview.?The client couldn’t make up their mind who they wanted for the super group. ?They also wanted Ian, and would pay us another $100.?Ian was already on vacation in Florida, so he’d Skype from there, but I went back in to meet in person.?The second interview was quicker, and a lot of fun.?We did celebrity word association where those in the room would name a celeb and asked me to recite the first thing that came to mind.?It took ten minutes max, and there I was again heading home with another $100 bill.?Easiest $200 I’ve made in my life.

It must have been about a week later when Ian called me from Florida.?He was selected for the super group.?He was to be at the Gansevoort Meatpacking Hotel on Thursday January 9th, and that was it.?He knew nothing else.?Clearly the “jealous older brother” in me took over for a minute and I cursed because quite frankly I was pissed.?I did a nice thing and passed along a focus group onto my brothers, and now I potentially lose out on $1,000 because of it.?Ultimately I calmed down, told Ian to have fun and let me know how it went.

I forgot about the whole thing.?The night of the group I went to play basketball, and didn’t even realize Ian was there.?The next day we grabbed lunch together because Ian wanted to tell me about the night.?When we sat down at Westville on Hudson Street, he was pretty much shaking.?He didn’t have the words to describe what he experienced, and started to slowly explain to me his night.

I don’t need to break down the specific details because the video itself does it all, but here’s how it went.?Ian got picked up in a car from his apartment and was taken to the Gansevoort.?The two women who were in each of the two focus groups met him and told him they were all going to grab a drink to brief him on the group and night ahead.?They went into a bar around the corner from the hotel, and grabbed a high top table.?It was then when the women excused themselves for a minute to take a call and check on the set up.?It was then when “Kelly” approached Ian and asked him “If I give you this Bud Light, are you up for whatever happens next?”?The bar was not a bar, but a “set” and everyone there were actors.?Hidden cameras were everywhere.?Ian went from a limo ride with “bachelorettes” and Reggie Watts to getting styled by Minka Kelly to riding an elevator with Don Cheadle and a llama to playing Arnold Schwarzenegger in ping pong, ultimately ending up on stage with One Republic – where he was promptly whisked backstage after to be told he just filmed a Super Bowl commercial.

After Ian finished his 45 minute story I was stunned.?I didn’t know how to feel or react.?I had to be excited because it was my brother, but as someone who self admittedly loves the spotlight, envious didn’t even begin to describe it.?There was so much more.?Ian watched another guy go through the entire experience because Anheuser-Busch had to have two guys to pick from.?He was signed up for the Screen Actors Guild that evening.?He got home at 5:30am, and was told that he wouldn’t know until the Super Bowl aired if it would be him – or the other guy starring in the commercial.?I knew it would be Ian.?We’re similar, and he told me he just went with the flow, didn’t ask questions, and simply did as he was told.?

For those who don’t remember, Super Bowl 2014 was in New York.?It was a big deal.?Ian only shared his experience with our other brother, Brandon, his girlfriend (now wife) and our parents.?At Ian’s apartment, we watched the AFC and NFC Championship games with friends, and teasers started airing featuring Don Cheadle and Arnold.?All we could do was look at each other and laugh.?Couldn’t say anything to friends.?Ian still had no idea if he was going to be in a Super Bowl commercial.

The Monday before the Super Bowl Ian was asked to come to The Standard Hotel for a meeting.?It was then when he was told he’d be starring in the biggest Super Bowl commercial of the year.?Bud Light’s full rebrand was based around his unplanned night out.?He was given a tidal wave of information –

·?????Bud Light would release the full version of the commercial on Friday morning so the press could pick it up.?The commercial would be broken up into two spots set to air in both halves of the game

·?????Ian and our entire family would be staying at The Bud Light Hotel for the entire weekend.?This was a Norwegian cruise ship docked, and fully branded for Bud Light guests, staff and celebrities only

·?????We’d be attending multiple Bud Light events, including their tentpole concert featuring Zac Brown Brand and Foo Fighters – in a specialized VIP section

·?????He’d be doing an incredible amount of interviews from trades to Ryan Seacrest.

After Ian got out of his meeting with Anheuser-Busch, he texted me to meet him at a bar near where he was at.?I was on a subway home, immediately hopped out at the next stop and started running.?I slipped on black ice, but didn’t care because I needed to hear EVERYTHING. He debriefed me what he was told, from the commercial to the way the weekend was going to go.?It was then when the envy shifted into admiration, and sheer pride.?This was my younger brother, and he was about to seen front and center during the biggest sporting event of the year.?

That Friday morning the commercials dropped as I was on the way to my office.?When I got off the subway my phone was exploding.?No one could believe it.?It was utter shock.?There was zero work done that day.

That Super Bowl weekend was a blur. I don’t have the words to describe it.?We stayed on a massive cruise ship that functioned as if we were in the middle of the Caribbean.?Every restaurant was inclusive, events being held left and right, live broadcasts from ESPN on the spot.?That Friday me, Ian, Brandon and my sister-in-law went to catch Imagine Dragons in the “Bud Light Tent” opposite the hotel on the West Side Highway.?Heading back into the hotel I bumped into Adam Devine and Rob Riggle. I just couldn't believe what was happening. My mind was blown.

Saturday is when things got kicked up a bit.?Ian spoke at a Anheuser-Busch executive meeting with Eli Manning.?Our parents arrived for the weekend.?That night Ian walked the “blue carpet” for Bud Light’s tentpole event being interviewed by every press outlet under the sun.?We headed up to a private VIP area for Zac Brown and Foo Fighters and it was simply insane.?We were surrounded by celebrities, many of whom recognized Ian from the commercial and all the buzz surrounding it.?My parents hit it off with David Koechner (Champ Kind from “Anchorman”, Todd Packer from “The Office”) and his wife, and they exchanged phone numbers.?It was one bizarre scene.?The peak for me was when Justin Verlander and Kate Upton arrived.?Within five minutes my Mom was talking to Kate telling her how proud she was, and that “those are my three boys.”?That transformed into family photos being taken with Kate Upton in the middle of us.?You really couldn’t make it up.?I think it all got to be too much for my sister-in-law at one point, as she grabbed Ian and said “is this going to be our lives forever?”?We tease her about that to this day.

For Super Bowl Sunday, Anheuser-Busch gave Ian the choice of going to the game, or hosting a party for family and friends inside the Bud Light tent – fully catered with open bar.?Why bother going to Met Life Stadium to watch two teams he had no interest in??He picked the party.?The day was full of MORE press, and it was then when we found out his commercial was being moved into Slot 1A.?This is the first commercial that airs coming out of the first stoppage of play in the Super Bowl.?You can’t get much more prime than that.?I don’t think I’ve ever rooted so hard for a stoppage in play, but when the game cut to commercial for a first time and I saw Ian’s face on a giant screen I was in shock.?It was amazing.?He made an appearance again in the second half, the Broncos got blown out by the Seahawks, and just like that the game was over.

Ian’s fifteen minutes weren’t over though.?For the remainder of 2014, whether it was a bar in Murray Hill NYC, or O’Hare Airport he was greeted with shouts of “Up for Whatever guy!”?He was asked to show up at college bars, and once March Madness rolled around, the commercial was on nonstop.?It ran throughout the first half of 2014.?As a continued push around the rebrand, Bud Light bought out the town of Crested Butte, Colorado for a weekend in September to create “Whatever USA” – a fully immersive branded destination.?The town was literally painted blue, had “A List” musicians performing all day and night, and any restaurant you walked into offered free food and drinks (Bud Lights).?There was WAY more than that, but you get the idea.?That was the official end to this wild ride for our family.?Ian was asked to come out to Colorado, and his siblings got to tag along.?Every experience he went through that stemmed from the commercial, he made sure to include his family.?I joke that it should have been me, but honestly, it should have been Ian.?He was perfect, and he nailed it.

It's been eight years, but every time Super Bowl rolls around it’s hard to not reminisce about an experience so surreal, that even after telling the story hundreds of times, you still can’t believe it happened.?Clearly I’m biased, but this will forever be my favorite Super Bowl commercial of all time, and while many may not share that sentiment, they at least have to agree that it has the best story behind it.?

Needless to say, I’ve retired from the focus group circuit.