Bud's SuperBowl ad

[Kealia]

Posting from my phone so I apologize if this was already covered (but I didn't see it).

This http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2 ... pocri.html has the ad along with a pretty good breakdown of it. I thought, as a craft beer fan, that it was pretty well written.

[LouieMacGoo]

Good article, I watched that commercial and thought, what a pile of BS! Nice to see his dissection of it affirming my first thoughts.

[swenocha]

Been interesting to see friends debate this. Like the one friend, who works for one of big beers most high profile acquisitions out of Chicago, and sees it as a bunch of "butthurt" by craft beer folks and tells everyone to lighten up. And his other FB friend, who works at a brewery who used to have a TV show but now doesn't because big beer threatened to pull their sponsorship from the channel if the show continued (I think you know which brewery/show this refers to), who sees it as another ugly power play by AB. And others who take it as a "geeks/hipsters vs. cool kids/jocks" kind of slight. Me personally? I was amused by it. It just seemed somewhat desperate, and set up more needless us-versus-them. And it poked fun at "pumpkin peach ale" as a random wacky beer style, while their marketing geniuses were apparently oblivious to the fact that their new acquisition makes several pumpkin beer varieties, including a pumpkin peach ale, which I found quite hysterical. But, I'm less offended by it than seeing it as a sign of desperation for their shrinking market share really, and a bit confusing since they are the largest "craft/crafty" brewer in the world after all of their acquisitions. I did also find Miller's response kind of amusing...



Side note: I do believe that this is the first time ever they've acknowledged their ownership of Blue Moon and/or included it in marketing with Miller and Coors. Or Leine, for that matter, but Blue Moon is a bigger surprise, imho. It may also be the first time I can remember that I've seen Miller and Coors in the same ad copy. Interesting.

[DaYooper]

My take on it was "If you want to get hammered quickly by drinking something cheap that you can slam like water, buy our beer and you can be cool too!"

[FedoraDave]

I just sneered at that ad when it ran on Sunday. I instantly saw it as desperate and petty, poking fun at those of us who investigate and enjoy analyzing a variety of beer styles from a variety of breweries.

Keep something in mind, though: in spite of AB/InBev's rampant acquisitions of craft breweries, the sales of BUDWEISER the brand are slipping. AB/InBev is certainly still making a sh!t-ton of money, but less of it is coming from sales of their signature brand than in recent years. This is unacceptable on a corporate level, and especially on a shareholder's level. While this helps to explain this petulant, snarky commercial, it still doesn't excuse it.

I hadn't seen Miller/Coors' response, so thanks for sharing it, Swen. Another salvo in the ongoing beer wars, and quite a good one on M/C's part, IMO. The negative PR which will be suffered by AB/InBev/Budweiser is going to be staggering, I bet. They seem intent on shooting themselves in the foot, and I'm totally okay with that.

The whole thing smacks of desperation.

[Kealia]

I agree with the comments about it being petty and desperate. I wasn't offended by it, I thought it funny/sad that they felt the need to disparage craft brewers but I have thick skin and don't get worked up over stuff like this. I'm sure there were just as many people saying "Hell yeah!" as there were "WTF?!"

[FedoraDave]

I don't think it's going to change many minds one way or the other, no. Good point.

[Gymrat]

[swenocha]

[swenocha]

Abita is getting into the act as well...

[Brewbirds]

The guys who took a multi-million dollar golden parchute when they decided to sell AB to InBev are sitting in their multi-million dollar Mediterranean mansion enjoying their $20 Bombers of craft brew and laughing their asses off right now.

Anyone remember the laughing stock purchase of Countrywide by BOA.

[Rebel_B]

A member of my local Homebrew club commented at the Budweiser web-site that he thought the 'swipe' at craft beer was offensive & he received this response:

Hello Xxxxxx,

I appreciate you taking the time to provide us with feedback about our most recent Budweiser commercial seen during the Super Bowl.

“Brewed the Hard Way” is Budweiser’s way of celebrating being a MACRO brew: a beer enjoyed by many. The prevailing discourse in beer is that small must be good, and big must be bad. We don’t accept that. Lager is one of the most difficult styles to brew well, and we have the highest standards of care to get it right.

We’re delighted to have sparked a conversation around beer. Talking with beer drinkers since Sunday, we know the overwhelming majority are really enjoying seeing Budweiser speak up with conviction.

Thanks again for sharing your feedback with us, Xxxxxx. I hope you have a great rest of your week.

Cheers!

Janet
Your Friend at Budweiser
1-800-DIAL-BUD (1-800-342-5283)

[FedoraDave]

A member of my local Homebrew club commented at the Budweiser web-site that he thought the 'swipe' at craft beer was offensive & he received this response:

Hello Xxxxxx,

I appreciate you taking the time to provide us with feedback about our most recent Budweiser commercial seen during the Super Bowl.

“Brewed the Hard Way” is Budweiser’s way of celebrating being a MACRO brew: a beer enjoyed by many. The prevailing discourse in beer is that small must be good, and big must be bad. We don’t accept that. Lager is one of the most difficult styles to brew well, and we have the highest standards of care to get it right.

We’re delighted to have sparked a conversation around beer. Talking with beer drinkers since Sunday, we know the overwhelming majority are really enjoying seeing Budweiser speak up with conviction.

Thanks again for sharing your feedback with us, Xxxxxx. I hope you have a great rest of your week.

Cheers!

Janet
Your Friend at Budweiser
1-800-DIAL-BUD (1-800-342-5283)

That's a pretty mealy-mouthed non-response, if you ask me.

[swenocha]

A bar is randalling Budweiser with pumpkin and peaches today... lol...

[Rebel_B]

Glad to see craft beer lovers having fun with it!