Anheuser-Busch InBev, Opener

Members:

2002 Television 43% Report A Problem

Two guys sit alone at a bar with the bartender, who opens up a fresh beer to serve them.

The delivery man walks in and the bartender asks the two men, "Give me a shout if anyone comes in." They say they will.

As soon as the bartender is gone, one of the men jumps over the bar to worship the refrigerated shelves of beer. He walks up entranced and says, "Bud Light, the mother lode!"

His friend announces that the bartender is coming back, "Hide!" So the interloper crawls underneath the bar, with his butt just barely sticking out. The bartender then opens another beer -- in the guy's butt -- by "missing" the bottle opener under the bar, and eliciting a painful grown from the poor fellow.

Like a Three Stooges episode, the bartender asks the remaining fellow at the bar, "Did you hear something?" His friend says no.

Moments later, a softball team carrying a trophy walks in and one player announces, "Bartender! Twenty Bud Lights!" Peeking through a hole under the bar, the man shouts "Oh no!" as he realizes he's about to be repeatedly sodomized.

This commercial is unusually sexually daring and brutal. It strikes the darkest fear of many heterosexual men with the idea of being raped. While no one would find this situation pleasant, the negative comparison to gay male sex is unavoidable.

Anheuser-Busch refused to discuss this commercial or its intentions.

Company

Anheuser-Busch InBev

Brand

Bud Light

Industry

Alcoholic Beverages

Media Outlet

Television

Country

United States

Region

North America

Agency

DDB Needham Worldwide

AdRespect Themes

Gay Vague

GLBT Punch Line

User Comments

Lou

Yet another misandristic advertisement. This ad would never be acceptable with a women getting a bottle opened in her ass. But it's perfectly acceptable to do any nasty thing you want to a man to get a cheap, perverse, and sadistic laugh. Go hatred of men!

Paul

A little funny at first but basically stupid, not to mention impossible (you cannot open a bottle that way).

Richard Phillips

Is the main idea to sell beer here, or what?! This approach seems so "way out" that I wouldn't be all that surprised to learn of the viewer being turned-off at the idea of EVER drinking another beer from an UNSEEN bottle opener in a bar again.

Joey

Not homophobic, just a lame, lowest common demoninator attempt a humor.

Bryan

Although I find this ad ridiculous and trite, I do like the fact that it has raised questions on sodomy being viewed as a crime, that is a topic that has never even occurred to me before.

Ricky

I think it's actually pretty pathetic, not to mention extremely violent. If they showed this commercial with a woman's ass or vagina being used as the bottle opener, then you'd hear the public screaming down and boycotting the hell out of it. It's bullshit that guys don't get the same treatment. Gay or straight, I think this commercial has a tinge of homophobia, it's not loud or extreme, but the tinge is still there.

Brad

If they opened the bottle with a vagina instead of an anus, would it be heterophobic?

Scott Alamar

Sadly, a misapplication of the politics of inclusion--like most of your conclusions about the advertising that is out there you deem "homophobic." Equating a 30 second product promotion spot to "rape fear" is absolutely ludicrous and seems to cry "wolf" when there isn't one around. I find it quite interesting that there is commentary on advertising that plays on stereotypes of gays/lesbians intriguing especially in light of the fact that television shows such as Will & Grace and Queer as Folk seem to play into those very stereotypes that are fought against by the gay/lesbian pseudo-intellectual hegemony. The former portrays gays as effeminite, vapid, successful, yet emotionally and sexually castrated with the de rigeur "fag hag" while the latter portrays gay men as pathologically hyper-sexed, hyper-promiscuous, and emotionally bankrupt. Yet, the implication of opening a beer bottle on someone's anal cleft is somehow stereotypically homophobic. There seems to be a far greater impact that QAF and Will & Grace on reinforcing negative stereotypes of gays/lesbians.

Bob

If it was a woman under the bar, would we even care? Sorry, this is a total double standard. It's funny, not offensive.

Pierre J. Bedard

It is just unnecessary to create a commercial like that. I am not overreacting... it lacks any humor (what if it had been a woman under the counter, do you think it would have aired?). I could also come up with plenty of idiotic situations like this to humiliate the straights...or different races. Is that agency for real? Those commercials are just tacky. I know an important (Busch family) stock holder. I'll try to see what I can do. Not good for the product's image. I'm totally appalled.

Grant Chambers

I have to support Nicolas on this one. I find most of the "Gay-Negative" ads offensive, but this one has only the vaguest of connections to gay sex and I doubt that gay sex is in the mind of the beer-drinking viewer when they watch it.

Mauricio Spinosa

I got a mild grin on my face but the poor taste overrun the humour. . I could have chosen an "=" sign to grade this ad or maybe a "w" (for 'whatever') but if homophobia has to be neutralized from the root, then I agree this "joke" about being plucked by a bottle is typically straight and pulls on the string of fear of being sodomised by anything: this fear shouldn't be fed anymore especially by jokes cause they basically fuel homophobia. Maybe in the US everything's nicer and people accept LGBT people for what they are -- I've only been in New York once -- but in the rest of the world (I'm from mexico), the fight lingers on and in some places (like Paris, where I am right now) it seems light years away of becoming a reality. I don't think it's "moronic" to become aware of the big picture and know how an "innocent" joke like this can -- given the right elements -- explode in your face, there's history to prove it and you to avoid its repetition.

Billy

I think that this site is a little too quick to come to a "gay negative" decision. This ad is meant to be funny. Obviously it is impossible to open a beer bottle in someone's ass. And gay or straight, this wouldn't be a pleasant experience for anyone. The joke is that he got himself into a situation by sneaking behind the bar. Lighten up!!

Rachael

I think we, the gay population, need to chill out. I, a lesbian, think the ad is quite funny. The fellow, thinking he was going to get "the mother load," ironically got it, but not in the way he was expecting. It's irony, and I don't think anyone should be offended except for homophobics who would be apalled at the idea of someone getting anything stuck up their rear.

Max Shultz

I agree this ad is horrible. If it depicted vaginal mutilation of a woman, no one would find it funny. There is a mean streak the American public has for men, and it needs to stop. Forced sodomy is a form of rape. Rape is not funny. I have one question though, was the beer bottle supposed to look like it was being opened in the man's anus or between his buttocks. The latter is a little less harsh, but still bad. The stereotype that "sodomizing" someone is a cruel act, and that being "sodomized" is painful and shows weakness, needs to end. The gay and straight communities alike need to be told that being "sodomized" can be painless and that "sodomites" are not all perverted freaks.

Alexander

This ad has absolutely nothing to do with being gay.

Darryl

Lighten up!!! I thought it was hella funny, and yes I am a gay man.

Benjamin

Ok, ok. This not a reference to homosexuality. I mean, I think everyone in their right mind would NOT want a beer bottle opened inside their butt. It's not about rape or gay sex...it's a compromising position...

Andrew Ogus

I'm glad to see that most other comments on this ad agree with mine, it's funny!

Hilliard

Why is everything so black and white with you people - this AD IS FUNNY - it is not meant to hurt anyone. You people have no sense of humor.

Max Shultz

I have said it before and I'll say it again. The idea that being "sodomized" is painful is a stereotype and a big cause of homophobia. I believe if someone homophobic was told the truth--that being "sodomized" can be painless--the person would be less homophobic. I believe the gay and straight communities alike need to taught that being "sodomized" can be painless.

Jonah Falcon

Ugh. Not only is it godawful, but unless he pulled down his pants, it's IMPOSSIBLE. (And if he pulled down his pants, he wants it, and should have enjoyed it.)

Nicolas Granby

Right over your heads! It's a joke, and NO, it's not a joke about homosexuality nor homophobia! It's a joke about someone being stuck in a compromising position. If one insists on slapping hypersensitive judgments on everything then one is likely to find fault with a great deal of the neutral world around them. I am a supporter of gay rights, but not a supporter of moronic, kneejerk reactions.

John

It is not gay AT ALL. C'mon, nobody wants to be hiding from a crime they committed to get caught in an uncompromising position! Even a bonified bottom does not want his butt used as a bottle opener.

Dillon

I think branding this as homophobic is going a little too far. Having anything shoved up your bum that you don't want there- gay or not- is undesirable. It takes some serious selective interpretation to find homophobia in this one.

Tony

This is more anti having a bottle shoved up your ass, and unless that means all of us gay men like having bottles shoved up our asses, I wouldn't say this is anti-gay.

Richard C. Smith

There's nothing wrong with this commercial. I'm an open gay man who works at Homo Depot. I laugh with them when they laugh at me. This is a funny ad!

Anonymous

Oh please. This is much ado about nothing. Like Christian radicals who see the Devil under every rock, you're overreacting. How ironic for you to behave in the same manner as those with whom you spar on many issues.

Relax, guys. Chill. Loosen up and laugh. No innuendo intended.

Jay

We gay men need to stop rushing to defend sodomy (if this ad can even be called that). Some people engage and enjoy it while other do not, and that's true of both straights and gays. Everybody's got a rear end, this is not our issue. I think it's self defeating and ridiculous to label butt jokes as homophobic.

David

No one would enjoy having a bottle opened in their butt. Gay, straight, male or female. If they used his penis to open CANS of beer would it be heterophobic. NO. Everyone has a butt. Gays haven't cornered that market.

Steward

I can´t see any gay connection in this add. Okay, a painful place is used. Straight guys are fools, and insincere, that´s what this ad says to me. Nothing new, just stuff made for MTV´s Jackass!

Steve

Funny, funny, funny!

Rich

Quite funny! Nothing about it says "homo" or "gay male sex". Please, it's just funny. The dude is hiding out and, afraid of getting caught, he stays down and sees that he has made a big mistake. Awesome! Nothing else to read into it from me. Don't pull "the gay card" on everything you see people, it's a slippery slope.

Rose Cobey

Not only does this ad not make fun of homosexuals, but it also sends a good message: Don't steal beer or you'll get bottles opened in your behind.

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