Hold, please. Bud Light might be in hot water after the internet discovered suspicious similarities between its Super Bowl ad and a viral Twitter video.
Users claim that the commercial is eerily similar to a viral August 2020 video created by Black content creator Lenarr Young, according to FanSided. The video, which has racked up over 533,000 views on Twitter, depicts Young waiting on the phone with a customer call center.
While on hold, the standard customer service music shifts to something a bit more funky — prompting him to dance and sway with the synth music, play a keyboard, and don a pair of futuristic sunglasses.
That same tune and plot were also featured in another recent video: Bud Light’s Super Bowl commercial, which did not credit Young. The 60-second ad similarly shows Miles Teller and his wife waiting on hold with a customer service agent, eventually dancing to the music while sipping a couple of beers.
It’s also worth noting that the song, “Opus 1,” was composed and recorded by a pair of teenagers in the 1980s. Composers Tim Carleton and Darrick Deel did not copyright or license it, according to Uproxx. It’s assumed that Young also did not copyright his popular 2020 skit.
“BUD LIGHT ???? SUPER BOWL ??? COMMERCIAL????” Young wrote in a Feb. 13 Tweet, calling out similarities between the video concepts. Quite a few users also weighed in on the post’s replies:
They really took the whole flow bar for bar …and during Black History month
— Dread.D.X (@DaveGSenpai) February 13, 2023
“They really took the whole flow bar for bar …and during Black History month,” one user wrote. Others were also quick to catch the resemblance:
I literally said the same thing as soon as I saw it yesterday 🤔 pic.twitter.com/mOsBNANFKM
— Jerzey (Nate) (@JerzeyReviews) February 14, 2023
Anhueser-Busch has not responded to VinePair’s request for comment.
Curious about the videos’ similarities? Watch them for yourself:
