Willem Dafoe, Catherine O'Hara are pickleball hustlers in Michelob Ultra Super Bowl commercial

Yahoo

28-01-2025

LOS ANGELES — Excuse Willem Dafoe, the Academy Award-nominated actor, if he hadn't heard of pickleball prior to his latest project.
"I guess I live under a rock," the actor, 69, deadpanned to USA TODAY on the set of a new Super Bowl commercial for Michelob ULTRA that he and his "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice" castmate Catherine O'Hara star in. "When this was proposed to me I said, 'What the hell's pickleball? Really?' I didn't know. And it's fabulous."
O'Hara, an Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress, came on to the set with a little more experience. She played once.
"I just found it really difficult," the actress, 70, said after joking that her husband Bo Welch wouldn't let her get to a ball because of how competitive he is. "But (filming this commercial) is making it somehow seem easier."
Competition, with the prize of an ULTRA, is the name of the Anheuser-Busch brand's latest game. In "The ULTRA Hustle," Dafoe and O'Hara hustle unsuspecting pickleball players for the low-calorie beer. Principal photography with the actors took place over two days in Southern California last November. The "hustlers" rack up accolades and beverages as they lob and drive past the likes of Pro Football Hall of Famer Randy Moss, WNBA champion Sabrina Ionescu and Olympic shot put gold medalist Ryan Crouser.
The commercial's "Play for an ULTRA" theme is a platform-setter for the brand's future campaigns.
"'Play for an ULTRA' is incredibly consistent with the DNA of the brand," explained Ricardo Marques, senior vice president of marketing. "It goes back to this idea of championing a social and active lifestyle. This is not only a Super Bowl campaign, this is a brand platform that will set the stage for us for the next few months and maybe the next couple of years."
Michelob ULTRA Zero, a non-alcoholic beer, also makes a cameo in the ad and will be featured during Fox's broadcast of Super Bowl 59.
"The Super Bowl is a more than a sports moment, it's a cultural moment," Marques said. "When you create a spot, when you take the Super Bowl stage, you need to think about this opportunity to really engage with everybody from all walks of life across different age groups, different parts of the country.
"I think this spot will do incredibly well, because there's something for everybody. If you're not a pickleball fan, I'm sure you'll be engaged with the story. And Willem and Catherine are just incredible pros and they did a fantastic job on set as well."
In 2024, USA Pickleball, the sport's governing body in the U.S., heralded the game as America's fastest growing sport for the fourth consecutive year. Marques called it a "cultural phenomenon" that spanned different demographics, which made it appealing to be featured in the Super Bowl campaign. The brand's last three Big Game spots have used bowling, golf and beach soccer respectively for the storylines. Like "The ULTRA Hustle," the commercials also featured friendly competition and an ensemble cast.
"It helps us with creative voltage," Marques said of the casting, which he believes goes hand-in-hand with the commercial's storyline. "All of that put together gives us the playbook to engage with this amazing audience."
O'Hara and Dafoe are no strangers to the Super Bowl playbook of brands. The "Schitt's Creek" star appeared alongside her castmate from the TV show, Eugene Levy, in a 2022 Nissan commercial that ranked in USA TODAY Ad Meter's top 15 that year. As for Dafoe, he's been in commercials for Mercedes-Benz (2013) and Snickers (2016), both which landed on Ad Meter's top 20 in their respective years.
"I brag to people that I'm doing a Super Bowl commercial," O'Hara said. "It's like, 'Oh, I've made it.'"
"The concept made me laugh when it was pitched me, so I thought, 'I'd love to do this,' Dafoe recalled. "That's even before I knew what pickleball was. Then I fell in love with pickleball and we're off the races."
Both actors love that they're a part of something that aims to, if nothing else, make people laugh.
"Anytime you laugh at something, you loosen up and you're not protecting so much your position and you're considering the other person's position," Dafoe remarked. "So anytime that happens, that's good."
"It's a beautiful gift to be able to laugh, and especially to laugh at yourself, which is hard," O'Hara added. "And this ad is funny."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Super Bowl commercials 2025: Willem Defoe, Catherine O'Hara for Michelob