An anti-craft beer ad or loyal consumer empowering ad? Those seem to be the only two reactions that Budweiser’s latest Super Bowl commercial have drawn. Yet one thing is for sure, no matter how you feel about the ad, we are all still talking about it.
Budweiser’s marketing team had a pretty logical explanation for the direction of the ad: “Brands have a responsibility to reinforce the position of their brand, not the whole [AB InBev] portfolio of beers,” Brian Perkins, vice president of marketing at Budweiser, told Fortune. “I am here to make ads about Budweiser. The craft brewers’ sales are skyrocketing, so there is no hindrance to their business.”
Yes, craft beer sales are on the rise – up to 11 percent market share in 2014 - and craft beer has never relied on advertising, just word of mouth. And maybe that’s the biggest difference: macro-breweries feel the need to advertise via old media where many of their most loyal of followers will find them.
The hypocrisy of the ad isn’t lost on anyone as Budweiser’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBev, has an entire division dedicated to nothing but legitimate craft beer. Yet as more young adults continue to flock towards craft beer, Budweiser’s only hope at maintaining a 40-plus percent market share in the United State is by keeping the loyalty of their older fans. And the best way to do that is to make them feel better, manlier, than their craft beer counterpart. However, that doesn’t mean the commercial didn’t strike a nerve with those in the craft beer industry.
Sean Manahan, head brewer at Flat12 Bierwerks and avid Denver Broncos fan, told me via email that he wasn’t thrilled with the commercial. Nor was he happy about Peyton Manning’s comments after the game about drinking a lot of Budweiser that night.
“As a craft brewer and watching Budweiser try and belittle my profession as a hobby in ads no decent brewer can afford, and then hear Peyton say that, I definitely was pissed.”
Having your life’s work mocked is one thing, and definitely something to be angry about, but as a enthusiast, does the commercial have the same effect? We took to Twitter to find out what our followers – mostly craft beer fans themselves – thought about the ad.
@IndianaOnTap they must of ran out of time to add *by the way we own 8 craft breweries *
— Nathan Miller (@Miller2608) February 8, 2016
@IndianaOnTap Desperation, Drink Us Out of Loyalty
— Gumbo Steve (@Gumbo_Steve) February 8, 2016
@ChapmansBrewing @IndianaOnTap As someone who bartended for years who the hell puts fruit on bud? Also, who the hell still drinks @Budweiser
— Andy T (@TheGr8Sarcasmo) February 8, 2016
