If it looks like Alex Morgan is having a great time harassing Brian Cox on the set of Michelob Ultra’s Caddyshack-themed commercial for Super Bowl LVII, it’s because she is. Alex joined Brian, Serena Williams, Jimmy Butler, Nneka Ogwumike, Tony Romo, and Canelo Alvarez for a spot that harkens back to the comedy classic. The spot even got Kenny Loggins’s “I’m Alright,” which puts the cherry on the top. “It was really fun,” Alex tells HollywoodLife in an EXCLUSIVE interview about filming the spot. “And, it’s like, every year, there’s the anticipation of ‘what is this year’s Super Bowl spot gonna be? How far are they taking this? Like, what sports are they gonna include? And who am I gonna spend the day with shooting?’ So, it’s always a really fun experience.”
This year, the Michelob Ultra ad hit home for Alex. “There’s always that anticipation – of receiving an email and like, ‘here’s the spot, take a look, let us know what you think.’ Seeing that it was centered around golf and making it younger – seeing where golf has come in the last couple of years and how diverse it’s gotten,” says Morgan. “And the fact that I personally have gotten into golf over the last two or three years – I, by no means, am good, but I am getting there,” she adds with a smile.
“So, that [aspect] was exciting for me, to put my skills to the test and see that not only am I getting into golf, but the rest of the country is, right now,” she adds. “So, it was really fun doing the commercial.”
Diversity is at the heart of Michelob Ultra’s Super Bowl entries. For the second year in a row, their commercial features an equal number of female and male athletes. The commercial – a continuation of Michelob Ultra’s parent company, Anheuser-Bush, committing $100 million over five years to increase visibility for women’s sports — is also directed by Oscar-nominated cinematographer Rachel Morrison. “It’s one of the reasons why I initially partnered with Michelob Ultra,” says Morgan. They’re putting important dollars where it’s needed. I feel like we’re very aligned on that front.
“And they just like to have fun,” Morgan says of Michelob Ultra. “They see where they can have the most reach, and I’m all about work on the field? But golf is one of the few sports in which you can actually have a beer while enjoying a day on the course. And I don’t mind doing that myself.”
One can’t drink and win a world championship at the same time, so Alex will keep the Michelob Ultra on ice if she gets tapped to compete in the FIFA Women’s World Cup. The 2024 edition of the international soccer/football tournament begins in July and takes place in Australia and New Zealand. As of early February, the US Women’s National Team roster hasn’t been formalized, but Alex’s name has been mentioned frequently in lineup prediction posts.
“I’m feeling really good,” she says ahead of the 2023 World Cup. “I feel like it’s been a long time since 2019, and I’m ready to get back to that stage again – it’s kind of what we live for. A lot of people don’t get to experience something like being on the highest stage [of their profession] and having an opportunity to be a world champion or to step on the podium and be considered one of the best, if not the best. So, having the opportunity in July is really special.”
“I’m doing everything I can to be on that roster,” she continues, saying that the USWNT is “doing everything we can to prepare, to be a top contender.”
Having won back-to-back World Cups in 2019 and 2015, one would think the pressure would let up, and Alex could, theoretically, take it easy in 2023. Not so. “The pressure’s always there,” she says. “We put it on ourselves. And the rest of the world puts it on us.”
“It’s less about thinking like we’re defending the last two World Cups because it’s a very different team, aside from myself and a couple of others,” says Morgan. Alex, captain Becky Sauerbrunn, Crystal Dunn, Sofia Huerta, Kristie Mewis, Megan Rapinoe, and goalkeepers Alyssa Naeher and Adrianna Franch are the only women on the team selected for the 2023 SheBelieves Cup that are above the age of 30. The fifteen other players are all in their twenties.
Many of these players were “barely out of their single-digit years when we won 11 years ago,” says Morgan. “So it’s a really different team. And so, we have to think that with every World Cup, we’re going at it like it’s our first time. Though this program is very rich in our success, every time we step up to a World Cup or an Olympics or any big tournament, it’s a different team.”
“It’s a different team, but the mentality stays the same,” she adds. “And that’s what’s been passed down: the mentality of wanting to be the best, of competing and training every single day at the highest level to create that environment. We hold ourselves to a high standard.”
That’s something to drink to. So, raise your glass when you see Alex and the rest of the crew during Super Bowl LVII – and again in Super Bowl LVIII, when Morgan (presumably) returns for Michelob Ultra’s commercial in 2024.
With 2022’s spot running with a The Big Lebowski vibe and this year paying homage to Caddyshack, will next year’s spot pay homage to Alex’s hometown of San Dimas by parodying Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure? “I think you just gave them their next commercial,” Alex says with a laugh at the suggestion. With that said, is she more of a Bill or a Ted? “Ooooh,” she says after thinking. “I would say, I think it’s Ted.”
Excellent!