Time was that Guy Fieri simply wasn’t cool. He still isn’t, but in the last few years his reputation has still taken a massive turn for the good. That nightmare of a Times Square restaurant that once earned him mockery (and mucho tourist bucks) is long gone. Now he’s recognized as a champion of the common man. In the early days of the pandemic, he was the big-time restauranteur helping out struggling food service workers. His show, “Triple D,” has long pointed eaters toward small businesses. Even his dorky Twitter feed is more affable than annoying.
Anyway, now Fieri is starring in Bud Light’s new Super Bowl commercial, and that’s fine, too.
The beer company, which has already gotten into the hard seltzer business, is now getting into the hard soda business. How is it? Well, the so-called “Mayor of Flavortown” likes it. That’s the role Fieri makes literal in a new ad, with minions bringing some cans of the new alcoholic soda into the alternate world of Flavortown, over which Fieri lords. And when he tastes the new brew, he goes gaga — or accepts a sweet paycheck. Same difference.
Things are on the up-and-up for Fieri, from the massive deal he made with the Food Network last spring to being Kristen Stewart’s choice to officiate her upcoming wedding. People don’t even seem to hate that he wears his sunglasses backward anymore.
