Helen Mirren's Budweiser Advert Is A Must-See PSA

To gear up for Super Bowl 50, Budweiser has enlisted the help of Helen Mirren to not only promote its product, but to promote an important message: If you’re going to drink, don’t be a pillock who gets behind the wheel. In what could end up being one of the best Super Bowl ads of 2016 (as of Tuesday afternoon, that Dachshunds in hot dog costumes commersh is in second place), the legendary actress sits in a restaurant booth before a bottle of Budweiser and a hamburger. After she politely dabs at the corners of her mouth with a cloth napkin, Mirren stares into the camera and tears into the drunk drivers of the past, present, and future. It’s sure to send chills down the spines of every last “short-sighted, utterly useless, oxygen-wasting human form of pollution” on the planet.

After she urges the audience to party smart, the Academy Award winner raises her bottle to the camera. But before she can actually take a swig of the classic Anheuser-Busch beverage, the ad ends. (The networks’ “Eh, maybe think twice before you show people chugging beer in a commercial?” rule strikes again!) OK, I totally realize this is not the point of the PSA and I hate to steer away from the message, but I have gotta ask: Does Helen Mirren drink Budweiser? Yeah, I know it’s just an ad, and yeah, I know spokespeople don’t always actually use the products they endorse, but I want to believe that Dame Mirren has uttered “No Chivas Regal for me, but might you have Bud Heavy on tap?”

I can see it now: Mirren is at a post-Oscars party. The place is teeming with famous folk. She makes her way through the thick, buzzing crowd and grabs the last empty seat at the bar. She orders a Budweiser. She twists off the cap, takes a swig, and looks around the room. She notices Jennifer Lawrence knocking back a bottle of Bud, too. J. Law's eyes meet Mirren's. J. Law lifts her half full bottle up in the air. Mirren does the same. They exchange a knowing nod. The end.

You can watch Mirren's fantastic anti-drunk driving PSA/Budweiser commercial here:

Image: budweiser/YouTube