Michelob Ultra hopes you love this Messi Super Bowl ad as much as you love ‘Ted Lasso’

Lionel Messi might be the planet’s greatest living soccer player, but one thing his move to Inter Miami has illustrated is that he’s human after all. Just a regular grocery shopping schmo like the rest of us, right?

Now in Michelob Ultra’s new Super Bowl ad, Messi is seen chilling at the beach with a couple of pals, casually ordering a pint of beer. But when the keg taps out, does this legend throw an entitled temper tantrum? No. Instead, he casually checks into a pick-up game of beach soccer.

There’s a brief flash of Ted Lasso star Jason Sudeikis, who has enough time to say he and Leo go way back. Then, because Messi plays in Miami, NFL hall-of famer and former Dolphins QB Dan Marino is doing a little fishing offshore in his boat (the delightfully named Dan Marina), before Messi passes him the ball. That’s when Marino delivers the ad’s funniest line—a self-referential nod before tossing the ball back to the beach.

Messi dribbles his way through a cavalcade of beach punters before the bartender calls him back for his fresh pint. He casually sets up a goal and strolls back to the bar.

A perfectly suitable and dutiful beer ad. Many people will love this. I want to be one of those people. But I’m not.

This is the Super Bowl. This is a Super Bowl beer ad. Those two things should provide license to get as wacky as possible. This is the time for the creative Hail Mary. Instead, we get Meh-ssi. Or MeZZZi. Why is Sudeikis even there?

The reality is, even if you have a world-class ad agency (Wieden+Kennedy), a world-class marketer (AB InBev), and an A-list of talent—Messi, Sudeikis, Marino—there is no guarantee of commercial gold. It’s not easy!

As a fan, though, it’s impossible not to see this as a missed opportunity. Ted Lasso is over. You already have Sudeikis on the payroll. Do we need to have Messi grabbing a pint with Lasso and Coach Beard at the Crown & Anchor? No. But zero Lasso vibes is so sobering, fans of the show might just have to take Coach’s best advice.