"Dilly Dilly" is a phrase popularized in late 2017 by a television marketing campaign in North America by the Wieden+Kennedy advertising agency for Anheuser-Busch Inbev's Bud Light beer. The campaign was launched in August 2017 with the ad entitled "Banquet" and set in medieval times. It became a catchphrase and resulted in increased sales, the production of further Bud Light ads broadcast during the American football playoffs and Super Bowl LII, and the popularizing of the phrase the "Pit of Misery" as well as characters such as the Bud Light King and the Bud Knight.
Prior use
"Dilly dilly" is a recurring phrase in "Lavender's Blue", a nursery rhyme or folk song printed around the year 1675. It begins with the sentence, "Lavender Blue, dilly dilly, lavender green, When I am king, dilly dilly, you shall be queen." The website Dictionary.com defines the word dilly as delightful or delicious. Burl Ives sang it in a Disney movie So Dear to My Heart released on January 19, 1949. Dinah Shore sang “Lavender Blue (Dilly Dilly)” with the Harry Zimmerman Orchestra. The record label gives credit to Walt Disney's film, So Dear to My Heart. Her recording was number one on the Australian charts as reported in The Phono Project.
Concept and first ad
The phrase was coined by Wieden+Kennedy art director N.J. Placentra and copywriter Alex Ledford initially as a temporary placeholder while they were brainstorming ideas for a Bud Light commercial entitled "Banquet". The phrase is used as a toast or cheer of agreement, and is comparable to "hear, hear", "huzzah", "Amen", and "Hooah". Ad art director Placentra said that "it can also work as a greeting, a nod of approval, or an expression of gratitude." InBev chief marketing officer Miguel Patricio said in an interview at Business Insider's IGNITION conference that the phrase "doesn't mean anything. That's the beauty of it. I think that we all need our moments of nonsense and fun."
"Banquet" was filmed at a church in Manhattan, New York City. It began running in August 2017. Wieden+Kennedy wanted to do something timed with the Game of Thrones season finale. The story was set in medieval times, where subjects present gifts to the king and queen. As each one brings more cases of Bud Light, the Bud Light King (John Hoogenakker) expresses his approval by saying, "Dilly Dilly". However, when a guest presents "spiced honey mead wine" instead of the beer, the king is offended, and banishes him to the Pit of Misery.
The Dilly Dilly phrase was originally intended to be spoken once, but after the client company approved the ad, their production director Jim Jenkins suggested using it more often. Patricio said that the ad did not test well, but thought consumers would understand or get it, so they went against the research and gave it a chance, thinking that repetition of it would help.
Reception
"Banquet" was well received by audiences, who have used the "Dilly Dilly" phrase in wedding speeches and other celebratory toasts. It became a popular meme, and NFL announcers used it too. In November 2017, Bud Light marketing vice-president Andy Goeler said that the campaign had attracted 100,000 searches per week on Google and about 45,000 per week on YouTube. He thought Dilly Dilly might be the next "Whassup?" phrase. NFL writers and fans have also used it to describe the teams. According to Goeler, the campaign continues the "Famous Among Friends" concept from January 2017, and the company would supplement the campaign with ads that aren't focused on humor, but more on beer quality.
Morgan Stanley attributed increased sales to the ad campaign, and said the company had gained market share for the first time since 2011. However, marketing executive Greg Butler from competitor MillerCoors said that beer sales for both brands have declined, and that Bud's marketing campaign was more about selling a meme than selling beer.
The campaign won a Silver Lion for Social & Influencer award at the 2018 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
Follow-up ads
For the football games that were playing on Thanksgiving Day, Bud Light released their second television ad, "Pit of Misery", which features a guy named Greg who returns to the Pit to share Bud Light with his fellow prisoners. On December 10, the ad "Handouts" was released, which promoted a sweepstakes for winning Super Bowl tickets for life.