Guinness honors veterans in mysterious, clever commercial

A new Guinness commercial is kind of a head-scratcher at first, but it’s very touching how it finishes up.

The beer company posted the ad to YouTube earlier in the month ahead of the Fourth of July, and the video’s already been watched more than 1.6 million times. The one-and-a-half-minute spot pays tribute to our country’s servicemen and servicewomen.

The commercial is called “Empty Chair,” and no that’s not a reference to Barack Obama or the 2012 Republican National Convention. In the ad, a female bartender keeps setting a pint of Guinness at an unoccupied table, while everybody else in the bar keeps their distance from the seemingly unclaimed seat and drink.

By the end of the ad, you’ll see it’s not such a waste of beer after all; or maybe you’ll still think it is, but you will see there’s actually a point to the bartender’s mysterious ritual.

Here’s to you, veterans.