Michelob Ultra Super Bowl Ad Mixes The “Cheers” TV Theme With Real Fitness Fanatics

WHAT: Michelob Ultra’s Super Bowl ad that puts the Cheers theme song over real fitness fanatics having fun together.

WHO: Michelob Ultra, FCB Chicago

WHY WE CARE: Okay, kids, gather ’round ol’ Grandpa for a story. There once was a sitcom called Cheers, that starred Woody Harrelson as a dim young bartender, the old guy from The Good Place and Fargo as the bar owner, that familiar Pixar voice was a mailman, and the Jenny Craig spokesperson was a bar manager. And aside from the Norm-isms, one of the best things about the show was its theme song. And now it’s in the Super Bowl.

Instead of the song being used as a celebration of the camaraderie that comes from dulling the toil of everyday life with the sweet, sweet numb of alcohol, here the beer brand uses the tune to illustrate a communal culture of a new generation that would rather sweat in pain than sit on a stool. The ad stars real people in real fitness classes, and the brand also hosted Pull-Up Challenges in Atlanta and Boston, where men and women competed to do as many pull-ups as they could in 95 seconds (the same number of calories in a Michelob Ultra–branding!), with the winners getting a VIP trip to the big game in Houston.