Budweiser's 'Tagwords' wins Print and Publishing Grand Prix at Cannes

AB InBev's Budweiser and Brazilian agency Africa won the Grand Prix for Print and Publishing for "Tagwords," a campaign that encourages people to Google different images of its place in musical history throughout the years.

Tagwords leverages the ubiquity of Google search by replacing a billboard image with a search phrase. Viewers who followed the instructions found historical images of musicians enjoying (or wasting) Budweiser--images that it would have been expensive or impossible to get permission to use for the out-of-home campaign.

Kate Stanners, chairwoman and global chief creative officer at Saatchi & Saatchi and jury president said "When you look at it, it's beautiful, it's simple but then it takes you somewhere else."

Original story:

Budweiser is hoping to pique the interest of music fans in Brazil in an outdoor campaign that encourages people to Google different images of its place in musical history throughout the years.

The campaign, by Brazilian agency Africa, consists of billboards which give people instructions to use internet search terms that will take them straight to historical images of musical scenes where people are holding Bud cans or bottles.

For example, "1969 musicians sessions Budweiser" will take them to images of the Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger and Keith Richards holding cans of Bud, or "1987 California hip-hop Budweiser" will lead them to photos of the Beastie Boys' Adam Horovitz on stage spraying the crowd with a can of beer.

It's both a clever way of getting around copyright and celebrity endorsement issues and engaging people with the brand and its musical history.

The OOH ads have been running in Brazil since April near music venues and festivals, and in bars and pubs, and the campaign will continue to the end of this year.