Beer league hockey players need an active imagination. Like pretending there's a sold-out arena when you're on a breakaway, ready to explode in cheers when the puck hits the back of the twine.

Budweiser Canada* had an ingenious idea for its 2012 Super Bowl ad: Surprising two rec hockey teams in Port Credit, Ontario by filling the arena with rabid, ThunderStick-toting, stomach-painted fans for a random night game.

"We have a kerfuffle!"

The set-up was that the Amigos and the Generals were participating in some kind of hockey documentary, so that was the cover for the cameras. As for the fans, we found a casting call online for Dec. 21, 2011 for a "huge job" called "Project X" at the Port Credit Arena in Mississauga, in which actors "will be watching a game." (Non-union gig, extras paid $150 … not too shabby.)

Really cool commercial right there. We imagine it was a once-in-a-lifetime moment for the players, who likely celebrated by hitting the local watering hole and not drinking Budweiser.

(* Pigheaded American moment here: I was unaware that Budweiser would create separate commercials to run in Canada during the Super Bowl, but it makes sense. Canadians are much more likely to buy beer based on something like this than a maudlin, tedious slice of Americana involving children and Clydesdales. And vice versa.)

s/t Eric Rodgers.



