Anheuser-Busch InBev will run six Super Bowl ads that include bringing Budweiser back to the game after it sat out last year and plugging its new zero-carb Bud Light Next variety with an ad that is expected to make a metaverse reference.

The nation’s largest brewer—which has long held exclusive alcohol ad rights to the game—will also run an ad for Cutwater Spirits, its canned cocktail brand, in addition to spots for Bud Light Seltzer Hard Soda, Michelob Ultra and Michelob Ultra Organic Seltzer.

AB InBev will consume a total of four minutes of ad airtime during the Feb. 13 game on NBC, which is roughly on par with what it has done in recent Super Bowls.  

The decision to highlight newer brands with the company’s most valuable ad property underscores its strategy to accelerate investment in more premium products that in some cases have nothing to do with beer. 

Regular Bud Light won’t get an ad, for instance. Instead, the brewer will use the game—and its expected viewership of around 100 million people—to debut Bud Light Next, a lighter formula that has 80 calories and 4% alcohol by volume, compared with 110 calories and 4.2% ABV for regular Bud Light. 

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The Next ad, to be handled by Bud Light lead agency Wieden+Kennedy, will include a reference to the metaverse, Benoit Garbe, the brewer’s U.S. chief marketing officer, said in an interview, without confirming details. “What we are trying to convey is it’s a beer with zero carbs but doesn't weigh you down and therefore it opens up a world of possibility,” he said.

While plenty of mainstream brands have jumped on the metaverse/NFT hype, AB InBev has been more aggressive than most—so it is not surprising that it is using the Super Bowl to lean into virtual worlds. Last summer the brewer hired VaynerMedia’s new NFT unit, VaynerNFT, and in November the company released 1,936 Budweiser-themed non-fungible tokens. Bud Light recently turned its Twitter handle into an NFT-like avatar of a beer mug wearing glasses. 

Read: Metaverse marketing—everything brands need to know

The website Decrypt, which covers technology related to the so-called decentralized web, recently reported that the avatar came from a group called Nouns that is known for auctioning off one NFT per day. Decrypt’s report suggested that the Bud Light NFT could be tied to some Super Bowl-related marketing. 

AB InBev representatives declined to comment on the report. Garbe did not elaborate how, if at all, NFTs will be incorporated into the Bud Light Next ad, only saying, “We will have a take on NFTs during Super Bowl.” As for why a mainstream brand would lean into such concepts, which remain fairly niche, he said: “Mainstream brands speak to a very broad set of consumers and stakeholders. You need to continue to be vibrant, you need to continue to be relevant and I think it’s a fantastic way for us to learn and follow where future consumers are going.”

Meanwhile, Bud Light rival Miller Lite, which can't run an in-game Super Bowl ad, plans to air its own spot in a metaverse bar.

AB InBev has already begun teasing the Super Bowl ad for Bud Light Seltzer Hard Soda, which recently hit stores and comes in flavors such as cherry cola and orange soda. An ad running during the NFL playoffs shows a refrigerator as a portal into a fantastical “Land of Loud Flavors,” while teasing more in “February 2022.” Garbe said the product and ad are tapping into a consumer’s demand for a “more flavorful seltzer—that is really the biggest trend we are seeing.”

Bud is back

The Budweiser spot will be handled by VaynerMedia and will include the Clydesdales, according to a teaser released today. The brand sat out last year’s game, ending a 37-year Super Bowl streak. Instead, the brewer used Bud to plug its investment in the Ad Council’s coronavirus vaccine public education campaign.

“We said we would be back and we are back,” Garbe said of Budweiser's return. He declined to reveal creative details but the tone is expected to be one of resilience. “Budweiser has always been there in moments that matter and where America comes together,” he said.

Cutwater’s inclusion in the game, with a national ad from WPP's AKQA, marks a watershed moment of sorts. Spirits-based products had been banned from running in NFL games until the league lifted that restriction in 2017. But Super Bowl ads continued to be beer-heavy because Anheuser-Busch controls alcohol ad rights and chose to focus on its beer and seltzers, although Cutwater ran a regional Super Bowl ad last year. 

Cutwater’s portfolio includes canned versions of tequila, vodka, rum and whiskey cocktails. AB InBev acquired the brand in 2019. It is key to “our continued acceleration of our beyond beer portfolio,” Garbe said. “We have a massive opportunity to continue to build awareness. We are using Super Bowl as a large-scale platform to tell our story to a much broader part of America.”

When it comes to traditional beer, Michelob Ultra is one of the few big brands that is growing market share. As such, it remains central to AB InBev’s Super Bowl strategy with one ad for regular Ultra from Wieden+Kennedy. But the brewer will also run an ad for Ultra’s organic seltzer variety, also handled by W+K. Both spots for the low-carb brand will continue its positioning around “active lifestyles.”

Michelob Ultra also ran two Super Bowl spots in 2021, one featuring images of superstar athletes and one starring Don Cheadle promoting the brand's organic seltzer.

But Ultra will now have to share the stage with zero-carb Bud Light Next. (Next’s 80 calories compare with 95 calories for Ultra, which has 2.6 carbs.) Asked how Next will co-exist with Ultra, Garbe said Ultra targets a different consumer interested in an “active and balanced lifestyle.” Next, an even lighter beer, is attempting to reach consumers who “don’t want to be weighed down.” 

The brewer’s Super Bowl plans also include regional ads for Busch Light and Michelob Ultra Pure Gold, plus a regional pregame ad for Stella Artois.

AB InBev did not reveal the directors it is using for the ads but says out of the five directors hired for the national spots, three are women.

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