Clydesdales star in Budweiser’s scaled-back Super Bowl strategy

Editor’s note: Anheuser-Busch InBev changed Budweiser’s Super Bowl ad to a national buy from a regional one hours after the ad was released online and this article was published. The regional details in the article below are no longer up to date. Please read Budweiser Super Bowl commercial goes national for the latest details. It took a pandemic to knock Budweiser out of the Super Bowl. Now it takes other ailments. The King of Beers is relegated to a regional Super Bowl buy this year, as it was in 2023, amid heavy national advertising buys from parent Anheuser-Busch InBev for sibling brands and what for Budweiser have been unfavorably changing consumer tastes. The diminished presence may also indicate the brand never really recovered from being left out of the Super Bowl in 2021. Super Bowl commercials Tracking the latest brand and agency plans Click here This year’s Budweiser ad, called “First Delivery,” will be shown on Fox broadcasts in Phoenix; Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma; El Paso, Harlingen-Weslaco-Brownsville, Houston, San Antonio and Waco-Temple-Bryan, Texas; St. Louis and New Orleans. It will also be available on Budweiser’s digital and social channels. The ad, shown above in its extended form, comes from FCB New York and is directed by Henry Alex Rubin. Like Bud Super Bowl ads of the past, it’s a mix of majesty and baby animal cuteness—a proven Super Bowl crowd-pleaser. Budweiser last featured a Clydesdale foal in the 2013 Super Bowl spot “Brotherhood.” The ad has a similar set and the same carriage driver featured in last year’s national Super Bowl ad, which was meant to salute the brand’s distributor partners after a trying year. In 2022, an emotional national Budweiser Big Game ad featured a wounded horse. In a regional Super Bowl ad in 2023, Budweiser skipped the Clydesdales to profile a group of self-made young people in an attempt to put a focus back on younger drinkers. Anheuser-Busch’s ad buying strategy changes from year to year, “with a different slate of national and regional brand spots each year,” Kristina Punwani, head of marketing for Budweiser USA, said in an email. Busch Light, AB InBev’s fast-growing light lager, appears to be on a similar every-other-year schedule. It, too, had a national ad last year; its Super Bowl spot this year will be broadcast only in Florida. AB InBev this year placed bigger bets on its Bud Light, Michelob Ultra and Stella Artois brands, each of which gets a 60-second Super Bowl ad. Bud Light, despite heavy sales losses associated with the Dylan Mulvaney controversy, remains among the largest beer brands in the U.S. and will flex partnerships with comedian Shane Gillis and musician Post Malone; Michelob Ultra and Stella both play in the lucrative and growing above-premium space. Regional buys, in addition to being considerably less expensive than national ones, can allow brands to target audiences. Budweiser is generally strong in Southwest markets and around its St. Louis headquarters. And the Clydesdales will be a part of the Super Bowl festivities in New Orleans. Budweiser’s 37-year Super Bowl streak ended in 2021 when money that was to be devoted to its ad was redirected to the Ad Council’s coronavirus vaccine public education campaign. The brand’s absence from the Big Game became a part of a digital ad message supporting the vaccine program. Budweiser has been in a gradual decline for decades as consumers have over time gravitated toward imports, upscale options, microbrews and lighter beers. Budweiser remains the eighth largest U.S. beer by volume, but its 2024 sales declined by 6.3%, according to Circana data from Beer Business Daily. Budweiser over the years has increasingly moved to embrace the heritage and pride in figures like the Clydesdales, platforms like Major League Baseball and ideals like patriotism and hard work. “The Clydesdales are a staple of Anheuser-Busch’s long-standing heritage and a symbol of American tradition,” Punwani said. “They are one of the most well-known brand symbols and are beloved across the United States, making them celebrities in most people’s eyes.” “Every year, fans ask if they are coming back to the Super Bowl and we are thrilled to deliver on that this year for our fans,” she added. This year’s ad doubles down on Budweiser tradition by including the “This Bud’s for You” slogan, a phrase first used by the brand in the 1970s and revived in 2015 and again in 2023. Punwani said the slogan aligns with the “grit, resilience and dedication that make up the American spirit,” and is exhibited in the ad. “Our hope is that anyone who watches this spot can relate to the idea that through grit and determination, you can achieve your goals,” Punwani said.

Clydesdales star in Budweiser’s scaled-back Super Bowl strategy

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