Aron Ralston, the Aspen mountaineer famed for cutting off his arm to save his life in a canyoneering accident, joined a star-filled ensemble in a humorous new Miller Lite ad campaign about rules for manly men.
Ralston, 30, is teamed around the “Square Table” with the likes of actor Burt Reynolds, rodeo champion Ty Murray and football player Jerome Bettis to debate proper man etiquette on questions such as when it’s OK to date your best friend’s ex-girlfriend (consensus: six months, but only if she’s hot) and whether you can take home unopened beer that you bring to a party (No, unless you sneak it in your pocket, a.k.a. the “tuck” rule).
“It was a real privilege and an honor. It was a lot of fun to be able to meet these folks,” said Ralston, an indefatigable adventurer just back from a rafting trip down the Grand Canyon. “It was so much fun I would have done it just for the fun of it. They insisted on paying me a nice sum for it, and that didn’t hurt.”
In late April 2003, an 800-pound boulder rolled onto Ralston’s right hand and pinned him for six days until he made the life-saving decision to break the bones in his forearm and cut it off with a pocketknife.
Although he scoffs at being celebrated as an icon of manliness, Ralston acknowledged being flattered by the interest in his story from the renowned tough guys who are his colleagues in determining the unwritten code of “man laws.”
“The folks at the talent agency said they were asking what it takes to be a man and they said: ‘We thought you’d be one of the top vote-getters – not just what you did in the canyon but how you’ve recovered and gone on with your life,”‘ said Ralston, who has since become only the second person to complete winter ascents of all 54 peaks in Colorado higher than 14,000 feet.
Miller Brewing Co. spokesman Pete Marino said Ralston was chosen with the others because they are “real men.”
“Certainly Aron Ralston demonstrated an unprecedented level of courage, grit and bravery that makes him a perfect member of the Square Table,” Marino said.
Ralston routinely poked fun at his amputation during filming, feeding off the crude humor of director Peter Farrelly, whose credits include “There’s Something About Mary” and “Dumb and Dumber.”
“He said: ‘We definitely plan to use your arm as source of some of the comic effect and humor for our episodes.’ I’m very excited for that because I love it, and I love having fun with it,” Ralston said, noting that some of the edgier humor was cut from the first three commercials.
Staff writer Steve Lipsher can be reached at 970-513-9495 or slipsher@denverpost.com.
Laws from the Square Table
More than 5,000 “man laws” had been submitted to Miller Lite as of Wednesday evening. Among the 92 approved laws:
Source: www.manlaws.com
