Sarah McLachlan Answers Call of the Wild in Comical Super Bowl Ad for Busch Light

Sarah McLachlan heads for the mountains to spoof her animal rights PSAs in a Busch Light Super Bowl commercial.

McLachlan’s cloyingly heartfelt ASPCA ads became staples of late-night TV in the 2000s (and they still pop up from time to time). Well-intentioned but oft-maligned, they feature her sad song “Angel,” which also plays in the Big Game spot.

Watch as Sarah meets two furry friends in the wild: Busch Guy Gerald Downy … and a wolf that invades her tent:

Ah, nature. So toothy and fierce. Who needs it!

The outing dovetails with “Busch Guide” lessons, a series of shorts presented by Downy that focus in beery fashion on topics such as avoiding poison ivy and how to signal rescuers. Sarah’s topic is “Shelter,” which can refer to providing homes for animals (her ASPCA specialty) or seeking refuge in the forest (sans Canus lupis, preferably).

Will McLachlan’s turn maker her seem cool to a new generation? Probably not. Kenny G.’s Super Bowl foray for Busch last year didn’t put him back on the radar, after all. Still, the sax master generated some buzz for the AB InBev brand, and Sarah looks to follow in his jazzy footsteps. G-Man’s commercial ran in select markets, but McLachlan’s trek into the woods will fill a national prime-time slot.

The team filmed at a national park in November, and while McLachlan aced her lines, “the wolf was more interested in chewing that tent than sitting in it,” recalls Busch marketing head Krystyn Stowe. “The wolf needed help from its own emotional support dog—a darling golden retriever.”

Yeah, stars get hairy on set sometimes.

That’s a wolf-dog hybrid, by the way, and “in addition to being cared for by a team of professional handlers, we worked closely with Movie Animals Protected to ensure proper care and safety measures at all times while filming,” Stowe says.

McLachlan has sent up her do-gooder image before, notably for checkout tech company Bolt. That push, from Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort, bemoaned the plight of abandoned shopping carts—a cause close to all our hearts.

The Martin Agency developed both the McLachlan and Kenny G Super Bowl campaigns. Of late, the shop has become expert at mining nostalgia for the contemporary scene. Its resurrection of ’90s rap duo Tag Team for Geico became a cultural sensation, spawning countless memes and a limited-edition ice cream.

CREDITS

Martin Agency
Danny Robinson – Chief Creative Officer
Jerry Hoak – Executive Creative Director
Mike Kelley – Group Creative Director
Graham Unterberger – Creative Director
Dustin Dodd – Creative Director
Robyn Makinson – Design Director
Jenni Renas – Designer/ Illustrator
Mark Caasi – Senior Studio Artist
Tasha Dean – Chief Revenue Officer
Brett Alexander – SVP, Managing Director, Head of Production
Tricia Hoover – VP / Executive Producer
Cecilia Jackson – Senior Content Producer
Maria Rougvie – VP, Director Business Affairs
Scott Powell – Associate Director, Business Affairs
Kevin Llewelyn – Financial Affairs Manager
Chuka Schneider – SVP, Group Account Director
Steph Shaw – Account Director
Jacob Lowden – Senior Account Executive
Kirk Luo – Strategic Planning Director
Andrew Allen – Senior Strategic Planner
Maggie Burke – Director, Cultural Impact Lab
Maclaine Ellis – Project Manager

Live Action Shoot – PrettyBird
Kitao Sakurai – Director
Andrew Droz Palermo – Director of Photography
Gus Ward – Production Designer
Suzanne Hargrove – Executive Producer
Megan Porche – Line Producer

Live Action Shoot – Canadian Team – FilmGroup
Executive Producer – Nathan Miles
Renee Poulin – Producer
Katarina Ireland – Line Producer
Daniel Piochinger – Production Manager
Editorial – Arcade
Dave Anderson – Editor
Laurel Metzler – Assistant Editor
Senior Post Producer – Andrew Cravotta
Sila Soyer – Executive Producer

Finishing / VFX – The Mill NY
Creative Director – Tom McCullough
VFX Supervisor + Shoot Supervisor- Mario Stipinovich
Executive Producer – Luis Martin
Senior Producer – Colleen Valentino
2D Lead Artist – Kieran Hanranhan, Todd Mesher
2D Artist / DMP – Swarup Panigrahi, Gowri Sankar Velusamy D, Vikas Gangolia, Kunal Bendke, Putta Mahesh
Production Coordinators – Juli Wright, Misha Joseph

Colour – The Mill LA
Clourist – Paul Yacono
Executive Producer, Colour – Krista Staudt
Senior Colour Producer – Denise Brown
Colour Assist – Jacob Suffern, Alexandra Makarenko, Frederick Agyemang, Gemma Parr

Audio/Original Music/ Sound Design/Final Mix – Overcoast
J.L. Hodges – Producer