Illinois Native is the Voice of the New Buffalo Wild Wings Commercial Mascot

At roughly the same time the college and pro football seasons kicked off their 2023 seasons, Buffalo Wild Wings launched a new ad campaign featuring a new spokesperson spokesanimal by the name of Hank. While choosing an animal to be the face of a business or product is not a new concept, Hank is different because he doesn't exist in the real world. He's essentially the restaurant's long-time logo come to life and the man who gives him his voice is an Illinois native and former Saturday Night Live cast member.

Buffalo Wild Wings Debuts New Spokesperson in Latest Ad Campaign

Hank, the sports-loving, chicken wing-eating, beer-drinking buffalo with wings, made his debut at the end of August in a commercial called, "A Wild-Winged Buffalo Walks Into a Bar."

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In the weeks since his debut, he's bellied up to the bar to get a lesson on the definition of roughing the passer from New York Jets defensive back, Sauce Gardner —

— and he debuted his own made-up song about his love of Buffalo Wild Wings' new Bourbon BBQ Wing Sauce option.

Meet the Man Behind the Voice of Hank

It took a few times watching the commercials before it hit me that Hank's voice sounded familiar. I knew I had heard it before, but I couldn't quite place it. Thanks to the internet, it took about five seconds to get the answer. According to numerous sources, including Ad Age (subscription required to view the full article) and Muse by Clio, Hank's voice belongs to one-time Saturday Night Live cast member, Beck Bennett.

Beck is from the Chicago suburb of Wilmette, Illinois, and spent nine seasons on SNL (2013-2021). He was one of my favorite cast members during his time on the show, starring in a ton of great sketches. One of my favorites is this one spoofing those commercials you see around the holidays where someone buys their significant other a brand-new car without consulting them first.

He also played Russian President Vladamir Putin in multiple sketches, often walking around in pants and no shirt in reference to the now-infamous photo of the real Putin riding a horse with no shirt.

Putin wasn't the only politician Bennett portrayed during his time on the show. He frequently played former Indiana Governor and Vice President, Mike Pence.

Even though there are only been a couple of commercials for Buffalo Wild Wings featuring Hank since his debut, I've found myself laughing a little bit during each one, and I'm looking forward to seeing what else the campaign has in store.

[Source: Muse by Clio / Ad Age]