Sam Adams spoofs Budweiser's Super Bowl Clydesdales
Ad from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners will run in Boston and New York during the Big Game
Editor's Pick
The Clydesdales will be in the Super Bowl after all—just not from Budweiser and only in Boston and New York. Those are the markets in which Sam Adams will run an ad during the Super Bowl that pokes fun at Bud’s iconic horses.
The ad begins with the typical sentimental music Bud has deployed in previous Super Bowls as the camera pans in on Clydesdales with a wagon in tow. Then the horses are shown breaking free and causing all kinds of havoc. The culprit is the Sam Adams ad character “Your Cousin From Boston,” who is shown at the end of the spot holding a pin that came loose and set the horses free.
The spot is from Goodby Silverstein & Partners.
Bud-owner Anheuser-Busch InBev holds exclusive ad rights for national beer ads in the Super Bowl. The Sam Adams spoof comes as Budweiser, which has long used Clydesdales in its Super Bowl ads, is sitting out the game for the first time in 37 years.
The Sam Adams ad plugs its new Wicked Hazy IPA. “We couldn’t think of a bolder way to launch our big bet for 2021 than an ad for the big game,” Boston Beer Company Chief Marketing Officer Lesya Lysyj said in a statement, tiptoeing around the use of the phrase “Super Bowl,” for which only official National Football League sponsors such as AB InBev have rights to use.
Added GS&P Co-Chairman Jeff Goodby: “This big game misdirect is exactly what you might expect from the mischievous Your Cousin from Boston. The guy’s excited about Sam’s new Wicked Hazy and look what he goes and does. You just can’t stop him.”
An AB InBev spokesman declined comment on the ad.
The spot has the potential to cause a legal kerfuffle. AB InBev has a trademark for the Clydesdales. Brands are legally free to use images associated with competitors for comparative advertising, but they can’t be used in a disparaging way, according to an ad lawyer who spoke to Ad Age on the condition of anonymity.
Whether showing horses long associated with Budweiser running free and causing havoc would be considered disparaging would be up to the courts to decide, should AB InBev opt to pursue legal recourse.
A Goodby representative declined comment.
Credits
- Date
- Jan 26, 2021
- Client :
- Sam Adams
- Co-Founder and Chairman :
- Jim Koch
- Chief Marketing Officer :
- Lesya Lysyj
- President and CEO :
- Dave Burwick
- Director of Marketing :
- Matt Withington
- Brand Storyteller :
- Dave Wells
- Chief Creative Officer :
- Margaret Johnson
- Associate Creative Director :
- AJ Warren
- Associate Creative Director :
- Brett Beaty
- Associate Creative Director :
- Joshua Hacohen
- Account Director :
- Rachel Stermer
- Account Manager :
- Kate Colantuono
- Assistant Account Manager :
- Nolan Solis
- Partner Head of Brand Strategy :
- Bonnie Wan
- Partner Head of Communication Strategy :
- Christine Chen
- Director of Brand Strategy :
- Stephanie Bousquet
- Director of Communications Strategy :
- Caitlin Neelon
- Senior Brand Strategist :
- Marisa Perazzelli
- Head of Broadcast Production :
- Leila Gage
- Executive Broadcast Producer :
- Matt Flaker
- Executive Producer :
- Stephanie DeNatale
- Producer :
- Nick Goldsmith
- Director of Business Affairs :
- Judy Ybarra
- Senior Business Affairs Manager :
- Chrissy Shearer
- Production Company :
- Arts & Sciences
- Director :
- Matt Aselton
- DP :
- Toby Irwin
- Managing Partner / Executive Producer :
- Marc Marrie
- Managing Director / Partner :
- Mal Ward
- Head of Production :
- Christa Skotland
- Executive Producer :
- Zoe Odlum
- Editorial Company :
- Arcade Edit
- Editor :
- Geoff Hounsell
- Assistant Editor :
- Ryan Andrus
- Senior Producer :
- Kirsten Thon-Webb
- Executive Producer :
- Crissy DeSimone
- Audio and Sound Design Company :
- Lime Studios
- Sound Designer :
- Michael Anastasi
- Audio Engineer :
- Sam Casas
- Executive Producer :
- Susie Boyajan
- Producer :
- Kayla Mashburn
- Music Company :
- Butter Music
- Music Executive Producer :
- Annick Mayer
- Music Producer :
- Stone Irr
- VFX Company :
- Framestore
- VFX Lead :
- Matt Pascuzzi
- Senior Producer :
- Maura Hurley
- Producer Coordinator :
- Nathaniel Cabra
- Executive Producer :
- Dez Macleod-Veilleux
- Compositing Team :
- Avery Herzog
- Compositing Team :
- Elaina Brillantes
- Compositing Team :
- Euna Kho
- Compositing Team :
- Greg Gaskins
- Compositing Team :
- Kane Herd
- Compositing Team :
- Zavier Mojica
- Compositing Team :
- Ryan Ninko
- Compositing Team :
- Raul Ortego
- Color Company :
- Company3
- Color Artist :
- Tom Poole
- Producer :
- Alexandra Lubrano
- Chief Creative Officer :
- Margaret Johnson
- Associate Creative Director :
- AJ Warren
- Associate Creative Director :
- Brett Beaty
- Associate Creative Director :
- Joshua Hacohen
- Executive Broadcast Producer :
- Matt Flaker
- Executive Producer :
- Stephanie DeNatale
- Producer :
- Nick Goldsmith
- Account Director :
- Rachel Stermer
- Account Manager :
- Kate Colantuono
- Assistant Account Manager :
- Nolan Solis
- Director of Brand Strategy :
- Stephanie Bousquet
- Director of Communications Strategy :
- Caitlin Neelon
- Senior Brand Strategist :
- Marisa Perazzelli
- Director of Graphic Services :
- Jim King
- Content Creative Coordinator :
- Hanna Hegnell
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