Bud Light NFL Parachute Ad Sees Peyton Manning Fall for Bud

For the perennial NFL sponsor Bud Light, Peyton Manning and a distinctly slapstick sense of humor appear to have brewed up a winning formula.

The adult beverage brand, also one of the biggest advertisers in the U.S., is kicking off its 2025-2026 NFL campaign this week, once again turning to Peyton Manning for a sixth spot for the company.

According to Todd Allen, senior vp, marketing for Bud Light at Anheuser-Busch, the campaign can actually be traced to the Netflix series Quarterback, which is produced by Manning’s Omaha Productions, and which Bud Light partnered on via a social campaign called “Armchair Quarterback.”

“We parodied the great lengths the quarterbacks were going through with our own version of a digital comedic short with Armchair Quarterback showing the great lengths our fans are going to for their favorite team,” Allen says. “So we’re kind of taking that theme into the regular season now. As the official beer sponsor the NFL for almost three decades, we’ve seen the great lengths fans go to for their favorite team and for their favorite beer, Bud Light, and we want to show the great lengths that we will go to for our fans as well this this NFL season.”

The result is an NFL kickoff commercial called “Parachute,” which sees Manning, well, let Allen explain:

“We really wanted to show, in a fun over the top way, the great lengths that fans will go to for an ice cold, clean, crisp Bud Light,” he says. “So we thought no better way to show that than to have Peyton Manning as an NFL airman coming in on a parachute to kick off the season. He’s about to land on the field, but then he calls his patented audible with ‘Omaha’ and veers course as he sees a Bud Light that he wants to go for instead of landing on the field.”

Hijinks ensue, as you can watch below:

“We think it’s a great way to show the great lengths that our fans will go to for the official beer of the NFL, and he was a great sport in filming it as well,” Allen adds.

The spot prominently features the wacky humor that has become a staple of Bud Light advertising (see this year’s Super Bowl ad, “Big Men on Cul De Sac,” which features Manning alongside fellow Bud Light regulars Shane Gillis and Post Malone), and Allen says that the brand enjoys leaning into the absurdity.

“Our signature humor has become a bit of a cornerstone of all of our advertising over the years,” Allen says. “So we’re going to keep that rolling with this year’s campaign, especially with the NFL, and show up in a fun, hilarious way and exaggerating those over the top moments.”

“This Bud Light campaign captures the go-all-out spirit that NFL fans bring to their team each season,” adds Manning in a statement. “Whether you’re going ‘jumping-out-of-a plane’ big or more low-key and just enjoying a beer at home, Bud Light helps to celebrate the love we all have for the game.”