As part of the whole male friendship slump, 80 percent of guys get bailed on all the time with some kind of excuse. But there are two things that always bring friends back together : Beer and hockey.

So through a partnership with Budweiser and the NHL, we pulled off a national media blitz on one of the biggest days in hockey. Then we handed the ad space over to Canadian men so they could call out a buddy’s real excuse in an official Budweiser ad. In the end, the message landed and the buds actually showed up.