Piopio stars in Super Bowl beer advertisement
One of the commercials played during the Super Bowl had a Kiwi connection.
Bud Light’s ‘dilly dilly’ commercials were filmed on a sheep and beef farm in the Mangaotaki Valley near Piopio, which is the Waitomo District, between Hamilton and New Plymouth.
Suzie Denize, whose family owns the farm, said the ads took about 12 days to film, just before Christmas.
‘‘It was one of the biggest commercials shot in Australasia last year,’’ she said.
There were about 300 people involved, actors and crew, she said.
The two part ad for Budweiser’s Bud Light is understood to have cost about US$5million (NZD $6.8m) to air during the football game, which was played on Monday afternoon New Zealand time.
The commercial was a bit of a comedy, Denize said.
‘‘It’s a catch phrase in America at the moment, with the younger generation - dilly dilly. You shout it out at folk and they’re supposed to cheer and go ‘dilly dilly’. It’s a bit daft, but kind of funny.’’
The ad features an army fighting for the beer, in what is easily recognisable as a New Zealand landscape.
‘‘It’s the trademark scenery people saw in The Hobbit and now in a silly, but funny TV commercial seen by millions.’’
The entire Piopio township made the filming a success, she said.
‘‘It’s not just us on the property. All the businesses contribute in some way - logistics, hiring equipment, catering, houses get hired out. And local students were on traffic control on the property.
‘‘It’s a farm track, so they were on the go stop with a walkie talkie to allow people to go up and down the one way track.
‘‘It was very interesting having the ad shot here. They like New Zealanders. We’re easy to get on with and try and make things happen.’’
The 728 hectare farm has been in the family about 75 years, she said.
‘‘My brother-in-law runs the farm and my husband Warrick and I run the tours.’’
They run Hairy Feet - tours of where the Hobbit was filmed on their land.
‘‘I get a lot of interest from location scouts. Sometimes for ads, movies or gaming environments, fashion shoots. The infrastructure is here, after the hobbit.’’
Denize said she hadn’t watched the Super Bowl, but had taped it and would watch it later.
A Youtube video of the advertisement had been viewed more than 15 million times.