Beer Bites : Super Bowl Recap
The Super Bowl is one of the most watched annual television events. This year, according to the NFL website, 111.3 million viewers tuned in. But it’s not just the game we all care about.
The commercials, which have huge budgets and cost brands exorbitant amounts of money for short spots, are always crowd-pleasers. And companies are eager to have millions of eyes glued to the television.
Beer and Anheuser-Busch specifically play a key role in the Super Bowl. From being the official sponsor to purchasing a whopping six different ads for this year’s Super Bowl, this was the 24th consecutive year of Anheuser-Busch Super Bowl ads.
The company continued the ‘Grab Some Buds’ and ‘Here We Go’ campaigns from past years. The former was expanded with two 60-second ads, one featuring the famous Budweiser Clydesdales. The other simulated Budweiser’s presence in popular culture from the end of Prohibition to the present.
The ‘Here We Go’ campaign featured a dog named Weego. When called — ‘Here, Weego!’ — he retrieved Budweiser bottles and delivered them to whoever beckoned him. It was pretty nifty, but regardless of its creativity, it relied on gimmicks.
Additionally, Anheuser-Busch introduced two 30-second ads for new Bud Light Platinum (6.0 percent alcohol lager) meant to expand the brand line. The higher-end ads showed off the seemingly ‘high-quality’ beer in a cobalt-blue bottle with platinum-colored text. Nonetheless, it purportedly tastes exactly like Bud Light. Another spot, aired during halftime, featured music group LMFAO, who performed with Madonna after releasing a popular remix of one of her songs.
Another beer commercial that went mostly unseen was a 30-second Old Milwaukee spot, starring Will Ferrell. But it only aired in Nebraska. This was the fourth ad he’s done regionally, airing only in Iowa, Illinois and Nebraska. All were cheap and had a grassroots feel. This one featured Ferrell walking through a field and being thrown a beer can. It ended with the logo and Ferrell only saying the words ‘Old Mil…’ before cutting out.
But it was California-based Stone Brewing Co.’s Facebook status thanking people for supporting craft beer instead of AB’s ‘depressing beers’ that had a major effect on the beer community. It received more than 2,995 likes and 777 shares. This proved that craft beer, with small-production and no Super Bowl presence, can still remain close to beer drinkers’ hearts. Maybe next year we’ll see Sam Adams or Sierra Nevada sneak into the Super Bowl’s ad space.
—Compiled by Lucas Sacks, staff writer, ldsacks@syr.edu
Relevant Links:
Will Ferrell’s Old Milwaukee Beer Ad: http://www.youtube.com/
Anheuser-Busch Ads: http://www.
Published on February 7, 2012 at 12:00 pm
