Newcastle Brown Ale, a Heineken USA-owned brand, announced a new campaign today called “Band of Brands.” Newcastle aims to produce the “first-ever crowdfunded Big Game ad” by teaming with other brands. Ad Age explains, “In exchange for a small contribution, any brand can join Newcastle’s team and have its logo and messaging featured in an actual Big Game spot.” 

Last year, Newcastle mocked conventional advertising techniques by pretending to create a Super Bowl ad. This year’s snarky mock-ad (above) features Aubrey Plaza, from Parks and Rec, who tells us that Newcastle can’t afford the $4.5 million asking price to buy a TV ad spot during the Super Bowl.

In the digital spot she says, “We can help your brands sell tons of whatever the fuck your brands sell,” adding that “football is a team sport, now advertising is, too.”

AdAge explains Newcastle’s strategy:

“Newcastle’s crowdsourcing effort plays into the brand’s strategy as portraying itself as a scrappy, sarcastic brand in an attempt to appeal to beer drinkers who appreciate the wit. ‘Everyone loves a great underdog story. What’s more ‘underdog’ than being short on cash and not having the right to advertising during the game?’ Priscilla Flores Dohnert, brand director for Newcastle Brown Ale, said in a statement.”

Well, Newcastle, you sure got our attention.

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Fact is, Newcastle-owner Heineken has plenty of money to pay for a Super Bowl spot. But Newcastle is forbidden from running a national ad during the Super Bowl because Anheuser-Busch InBev holds exclusive beer advertising rights for the game. “Newcastle is seeking to skirt those rules this year by buying local air time during the game’s broadcast Feb. 1 on NBC,” reveals AdAge.

Side note: If you can tell us what Super Bowl commercial this cowboy makes fun of, we’ll buy you a beer. (Here’s a hint.)

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[via AdAge, Business Insider, YouTube]

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