Here Weego: Bud Light Helps Rescue Dogs at Super Bowl

​Long before cable television and the thousands of programming choices that we now have, television was born in the late 1920s. Its primary function was (and it may surprise some) and still is to serve as a means of communication during emergencies. That's why we have those pesky emergency drills. Naturally, broadcasting companies needed to recoup some money -- and commercials came into our lives.

Commercials are mostly useful place markers that tell us it's time to grab a handful of chips or soda.  Between cable and DVR's many of us don't even have to suffer through them anymore. But sometimes...sometimes...commercials are more than just a mindless 30 seconds we have to live through. Those commercials usually debut during the Super Bowl.

Maybe it's got something to do with the $3.5 million dollars it takes to buy a spot during the game (which, according to Nielsen, was watched by a record-breaking 111.3 million people), but Super Bowl commercials are usually watchable. They're clever and filled with special effects or star-power. This year's crop of ads featured Matthew Broderick reprising his role of Ferris Bueller for Honda, Jerry Seinfeld trading the Soup Nazi for an Acura...and a rescue dog named Weego!

Anheuser-Busch

Would you buy a beer from this face? Damn skippy!

​In Bud Light's "Here Weego" ad, the world's greatest dog fetches beer upon hearing his name Weego (as in "here Weego"). Wonder dog can also roll a keg, by the way. Best of all? Weego isn't some pedigree -- he's a mutt!  A rescue dog, as made clear in the beginning and end of the commercial.

In fact, this commercial is as much an ad for helping shelter dogs, as it is for Bud Light. At the end of the spot, Weego is pushing a styrofoam cooler that says "Help Rescue Dogs" and directs viewers to Bud Light's Facebook page. Once there, you learn that Weego is a rescue himself. From shelter dog to Super Bowl star, Weego (and Bud Light) is now helping other dogs. For every "like" Weego receives, Bud Light will donate one dollar (up to $250,000) to ARF, Tony La Russa's Animal Rescue Foundation.

Since Weego's gotten over two million "likes" so far, I'd say this campaign is a hit. So what does this teach us?

One: sometimes companies (like Anheuser-Bush) produce thoughtful ads that are touching (like their soldier tributes) or funny (like Weego). And they actually make us have good feelings about the product. I'll admit I put a six-pack of the yellow piss Budweiser labels "light beer" in my shopping cart today as I thought of Weego.

And two: shelter dogs, even if they can't fetch us a beer, are awesome.  Although I've been trying to teach my Chihuahua to pour me a glass of wine for over a year. Here's Weego:



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