Why Michelob Ultra Turned to Kurt Russell, Lewis Pullman and Joseph Kosinski For Its Action-Packed Super Bowl Ad

If you’re a major consumer brand, and you want to use the Super Bowl to launch an action-packed commercial with blockbuster stars and Olympic athletes, who better to lead the charge than Joseph Kosinski, the director of Top Gun: Maverick and F1?

Kosinski is the director of the beer brand Michelob Ultra’s new Super Bowl spot, which stars Kurt Russell (Escape From New York, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2) and Lewis Pullman (Top Gun: Maverick, Thunderbolts). Pullman plays “Greg,” an amateur skier whose lack of skills sees him buying every round at the après-ski activities. Russell plays a mysterious stranger who turns his fortune around, joined by Olympians Chloe Kim and T.J. Oshie.

In case you are wondering, Kosinski (taking a cue from his films) shot on a real mountain.

“It’s interesting as the world goes more tech and more AI forward, we actually went to a real mountain with real snow and real trees to shoot the spot, which presents its own challenges,” says Ricardo Marques, VP of marketing for Michelob Ultra, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “But that’s what I like about it, the craftsmanship, the attention to detail that went behind this story, and again, the fact that it is an entertaining, relatable story that everybody will enjoy.”

The Super Bowl is the biggest canvas in the world for marketers, and this year it is being amplified by the fact that the game coincides with the start of the Winter Olympics, with both events being televised by NBC. That led to the skiing creative in the spot.

“The opportunity that we saw when we looked at the Super Bowl this year is the fact that we have this for the two worlds colliding, the Winter Olympics and Super Bowl, right? So that was the creative spark for the this year’s spot,” Marques says. “In addition to staying consistent with our Play for an Ultra idea, we looked at a number of different ideas, a number of different concepts over a multi month process, and ultimately, when we landed on the winning script, the focus was in bringing the very best talent behind and in front of the camera.”

And while last year’s Play for an Ultra spot leaned into slapstick sports comedy in a pickleball-themed ad starring Catherine O’Hara and Willem Dafoe, this year’s spot is a bit lighter on the comedy, but with more action.

“It is relatable. It is aligned with this idea that friends, pushing each other, competing for Ultras. They celebrate with Ultras at that après-ski moment at the bar,” Marques says. “It is relatable as a story and then we are bringing, of course, the humor and top talent to bring the story to life in a unique way.”