'Grabst a Pabst.' PBR Revives '50s Jingle in Broad Salute to Creativity

“When you’re lookin’ for somethin’ to do
Make that somethin,’ somethin’ new
Grabst a Pabst, this is your cue
Grabst a Pabst, ribbon of blue!”

Words to live by in these trying times, served with an intentional typo by 72andSunny in its debut for Pabst Blue Ribbon. Breaking this week, the work features an updated take on the brewer’s 1950s TV jingle in this kicky animated spot:

Along with twisting tongues, “Grabst a Pabst” celebrates creativity. The team asked (absked?) 11 diverse creators—designers, singers, dancers, even bakers—for input, which informed the :30. (The creators themselves also appear.)

Here’s a :15 variation highlighting artist James “Scorpion Dagger” Kerr‘s neo-Renaissance vision:

“The best picture we can paint to describe the ideation process that led to the line is a typical war room set up in the agency with hundreds of taglines pinned up on all four walls,” 72andSunny group creative director Erwin Federizo tells Muse. “In the center of that room was a seemingly bottomless case of PBR that we would reach into with higher frequency as we concepted into the night.”

“We had such a wide array of lines pinned up with several different tones of voice,” Federico says. “We needed a line that only Pabst could say—literally. So, after a few jokes around the fun pronunciation of their name, we came up with the line. The clients were on board right when they heard it.”

As part of the push, Pabst, which has long supported the arts, pledges to award 1,000 commissions in upcoming months to designers, animators, dancers, singers, directors and others sundry creative folks, providing a professional boost in the age of the coronavirus. Interested parties can contact the brand through its @pabstblueribbon Instagram handle.

“We started production of this campaign before the lockdown,” Federizo says. “And we originally planned on filming a live-action music video to accompany our newly created jingle. But with all major film productions shutting down, the creative team quickly turned to a solution that ultimately allowed for more interesting, unexpected content.”

Raise a glass and sing along:

“Same beer, light beer, Extra too
Hard coffee for the java crew
Whiskey, seltzer, tea, woohoo!
Grabst yourself a Pabst!”

This marks the second reinterpreted jingle of the week, following Snoop Dogg’s funky update of Just Eat’s theme song. In a broader sense, “Grabst a Pabst” continues a trend of (presumably comforting) classic commercial tropes making Covid-era comebacks. Other examples include the return of AT&T spokes-character Lily Adams and Budweiser rebooting its “Real Men of Genius” and “Whassup” campaigns. 

These 11 creators contributed concepts to the launch spot:

MCBESS, @mcbess
HOMELESS COP (Jason Fennell), @homelesscop
TRAVIS RAGSDALE, @travisragsdale
FATTIE MCBADDIE (Sione Kelepi), @sionemaraschino
THE STITCH GAWD (Emma McKee), @thestitchgawd
KATE HUSH, @katehush
THISREO (Ramon Owen), @thisreo
SCORPION DAGGER (James Kerr), @scorpiondagger
ASHLEY HOLT, @sugar_monsterr
BLOTTER MEDIA (OFIR SHOHAM), @blotter_media
JON NOORLANDER, @jonnoorlander
 
CREDITS
Brand: Pabst Blue Ribbon
Creative Agency: 72andSunny, Los Angeles
Post Production: HECHO Studios
Music: Walker