Bud Light’s summer ad campaign shows brand is eager to recover with fun

As it attempts to get back on its feet, Bud Light unveiled new creative depicting a carefree summer. Set to Chic’s “Good Times,” the 60-second “Easy to Summer” ad shows consumers enjoying Bud Light while they deal with pratfalls of the season including sunburns, bare feet on hot pavement and hammock spills. Officials of parent Anheuser-Busch InBev have said they would triple summer ad spend this year as the brand tries to bounce back from a prolonged sales slump related to uproar over a viral post from trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney. The commercial is one piece of Bud Light’s summer marketing plan. Bud Light also announced a national summer music tour and said it would release new social content featuring NFL stars Travis Kelce, George Kittle and Dak Prescott. The focus on summer fun, music and football comes as the brand tries to win back fans by steering clear of divisive issues and emphasizing crowd-pleasing associations. The ad comes from Anomaly, which introduced the Easy to Drink, Easy to Enjoy platform with a Super Bowl ad earlier this year. The ad will begin airing Friday “across sports, primetime, and cable television,” in addition to a “tailored local presence,” a spokesman said. “For over 40 years, Bud Light has been delivering great quality beer for our 21+ consumers that’s easy to drink and easy to enjoy. We celebrate time with family and friends, whether through sports, music or small moments together, because that is what easy enjoyment is about. That’s where I’m taking inspiration for our summer campaign,” Todd Allen, VP of marketing for Bud Light, said in a statement. “It’s incredibly clear the amount of love and passion people have for Bud Light, and we care deeply about our consumers. And what I’ve heard over the past few weeks is that people want us to get back to what we do best: being the beer of easy enjoyment,” Allen continued. “This new work is really about reaffirming the role that Bud Light plays for our drinkers: celebrating a summer of fun and entertainment through music, backyard grilling, football, and easy enjoyment.” Meanwhile, Beer Marketer’s Insights commented on a survey of Anheuser-Busch distributors from HSBC analyst Carlos Laboy that suggests the beer maker has a lot more work to do in the U.S. to boost their morale—and its sales. “Their marketing people don't understand rural markets,” one distributor said, according to the report. “They have lost sight of core consumers,” said another, according to the report. Bud Light has seen substantial sales declines—30% year-over-year for the week ending June 10, according to NielsenIQ data cited by Beer Marketer’s Insights—as it licks wounds from the Mulvaney incident and absorbs hits from offended consumers on all sides of the issue. The controversy saw two executives including Bud Light Marketing VP Alissa Heinerscheid take a leave of absence. The company also pledged substantial relief for wholesalers, many of whom took the brunt of the sales slide. “Beyond the temporary economic relief that AB has offered, these distributors say they want a better revenue plan and stronger AB management focus on growth,” Laboy wrote, according to Beer Marketer's Insights. According to his survey, it continued, “delivery guys are still being abused, spit at, given the finger,” one distributor said. Others shared that the issue “has taken away their pride for being a Bud guy.” Marcel Marcondes, Anheuser Busch InBev’s global chief marketing officer, said earlier this week that the brand was “learning a lot” from the controversy. “In times like this, when things get divisive and controversial so easily, I think it’s an important wake-up call to all of us marketers first of all to be very humble,” Marcondes said at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity on Monday. “That’s what we’re doing, being very humble, and really reminding ourselves of what we should do best every day, which is to really understand our consumers. Which is to really celebrate and appreciate every consumer that loves our brands—but in a way that can make them be together, not apart.” Cannes Lions coverage Follow our live blog here Sign up here for email updates See all of the Grand Prix winners here

Bud Light’s summer ad campaign shows brand is eager to recover with fun

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