See Bud Light’s romantic Super Bowl ad

Bud Light hasn’t given up humor completely but is going for knowing chuckles over belly laughs as its shifting tone makes a romantic Super Bowl statement.

“Hold,” from Bud Light’s new agency Anomaly, features Hollywood couple Miles and Keleigh Teller (and their dog Bugsy) dancing to the sound of “on-hold” music from a phone customer service line. The 60-second ad spotlights Bud Light’s new brand voice that execs describe as confident and magnetic. The work is markedly different than the in-your-face comedy pieces with which Bud Light earned fame as an advertiser over dozens of Super Bowls.

“Forty-one years ago, Bud Light was created to be an easy-drinking beer; that is how we were born. We have turned that unique truth into our new platform—Bud Light is easy to drink and easy to enjoy. We look forward to continuing to bring this ‘easy enjoyment’ platform to life for consumers at Super Bowl and beyond,” Heinerscheid added.

Anomaly won the Bud Light account last summer and debuted its first ad, called “Carry,” late last month. Like “Hold,” it went for small laughs, but it has an overriding tone of confidence, showing a woman navigating a crowded bar with multiple pint glasses in her hands. The ads use the new slogan: “Easy to drink. Easy to enjoy.”

Bud Light’s agency change came as the brand sought to move away from advertising that was often memorable and funny, but didn’t always succeed in selling beer. The brand, still the best-selling in the United States, has seen its sales decline for 13 straight years.

Benoit Garbe, Anheuser-Busch InBev's U.S. chief marketing officer, in an interview last month said the marketing plan for Bud Light would be “consistent and cohesive” throughout the year, seeking to avoid the pattern of sales spikes and drops that the brand experienced in previous years. But he cautioned that “mainstream” brands like Bud Light have been in decline for some time.

“Our goal with Bud Light is to stabilize our share. It’s not about turning around the category,” Garbe said. “It’s about fighting harder, protecting our share. Ideally, we could even win and grow share, but the goal is stabilizing the mainstream.”

“Hold” carries Bud Light’s message of “easy enjoyment” when Miles Teller, one of the stars in “Top Gun: Maverick,” brings his frustrated wife a Bud Light and invites her to dance as she frustratingly waits on hold to repetitive but catchy music. They’re interrupted twice by virtual and real operators.

“I loved the fact that Bud Light wanted to create something authentic in feeling and tone to our actual relationship,” Miles Teller said in a statement. “Life can get messy, it can get frustrating, it can all feel trivial and pointless at times, but I love the message of ‘choosing enjoyment’ in those moments. At the end of the day, it’s about who we spend our time with and how we choose to spend that time. Enjoy the little moments.”

In a Super Bowl-related push that follows a similar stunt by sibling brand Budweiser during the World Cup, Bud Light has challenged the contending teams, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, to “Bring Home the Bud Light” and unlock a city-wide celebration for fans if they win. Bud Light, the official beer sponsor of the NFL, will also be giving fans chances to “Bring Home the Bud Light” and win $10,000 every time a team scores during the Big Game.

Anheuser-Busch InBev, which is advertising in the game without the alcohol category exclusivity it had for years, is also running ads for Michelob Ultra and Busch Light. Both of those ads were also released early this week. Watch Busch Light's ad here, and Michelob Ultra's two ads here.