Jeff Bridges’ “The Dude” Becomes Big Beer’s Hottest Voice

We’re still amused that ‘The Dude’ from The Great Lebowski has entered the pop-cultural pantheon to the degree that he has. But who knew that he’d become Big Beer’s newest spokesperson?

Here’s the deal…

Actor Jeff Bridges, who is beloved for his iconic stoner role as ‘The Dude’ in the Cohen brother’s cult hit The Great Lebowski has struck gold once again hyping beer for some of the world’s biggest brewers.

Last January Bridges dusted off his Big Lebowski ‘Dude’ persona in the US for a Stella Artois Super Bowl ad where he appeared alongside Sarah Jessica Parker’s Sex And The City icon Carrie Bradshaw.

The spot where the pair changed up their favorite drinks, the Dude’s White Russian, and Carrie Bradshaw’s trademark Cosmo, for a Stella Artois became was a “stellar success” for the AB InBev owned company.

And now the Dude is reprising his role in the UK for another global brewer, this time for Heineken, who has hired Bridges to promote its lower alcohol brand, Amstel.

Working with adam&eve/DDB, Amstel’s new UK spot features a gigantic canal-spanning Bridges (bridges get it?), in full-on ‘The Dude’ mode and positions him as a “human bridge who uses his arms to connect both sides of an Amsterdam canal, bringing people together to drink beer.”

And Nic Casby, brand director at Heineken told The Drum that after testing several faces, the company knew that it wanted to work with Bridges….

“We tested him with an audience and he brought the gravitas, wisdom and charm… he was the right guy to land the message we wanted.

The [Stella] ad might have been seen by many marketers but it wasn’t massively seen by consumers in the UK. The path was clear to land our message and do a long-term piece with Jeff.”

And “long term” is what Heineken hopes for in its new multi-million dollar campaign featuring ‘The Dude’, “Stella was a one-off hit” Casby added, “and we are hopefully entering an official relationship.”