From Snake Plissken in Escape from New York to Jack Burton in Big Trouble in Little China, Kurt Russell has played some iconic roles. Now, he’s taking on a new one: ski coach.
The Hollywood action icon plays “The Ultra Instructor” in Michelob Ultra’s Super Bowl 60 ad, inspired by the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, where the brand will be the official sponsor of Team USA.
Set to Survivor’s 1982 hit “Eye of the Tiger,” the 60-second film from Wieden+Kennedy New York introduces Russell as a legendary ski instructor who coaches a novice, played by Top Gun: Maverick actor Lewis Pullman, to outdo the most elite of athletes on the slopes.
The end game isn’t a shiny medal and podium kudos, but rather an ice-cold pour of Michelob Ultra.
Olympic gold medalist Chloe Kim and Olympian and NHL champion T. J. Oshie also feature in the ad, which is from Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski.
The Milano Cortina opening ceremony is slated for Feb. 6, just two days ahead of the Super Bowl, with acts including Andrea Bocelli and Mariah Carey set to kick off the Games.
“Leveraging the world’s biggest marketing stage was the perfect opportunity for Michelob Ultra to double down on its support of Team USA and bring to life a story that focuses on America’s competitive spirit,” Michelob Ultra’s svp of marketing, Ricardo Marques, told ADWEEK.
He said his team went “analog” for the spot under Kosinski’s watch. “The mountain, the snow and the stunts are real,” he revealed.
Going for gold
For the last few years, Michelob Ultra has been marketing around big tentpole sports moments, including the Paris 2024 Olympics, and its Super Bowl 60 ad supports its wider “Superior Is Worth Playing For” message.
At Super Bowl 2025, the brand enlisted Beetlejuice actors Willem Dafoe and Catherine O’Hara as pickleball maestros taking on real-life athletes.
Michelob Ultra’s road to the Olympics kicked off in December with a campaign reviving the famous ‘Miracle on Ice’ game, in which the U.S. Olympic men’s ice hockey team won gold at Lake Placid in 1980.
