After Furor, Anheuser-Busch Hopes Next Bud Light Commercial Goes Down Smooth

Anheuser-Busch InBev is getting ready to pour cold beer on a brewing controversy. After getting tangled in the nations culture wars with a Bud Light social-media promotion that included transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney a move that unexpectedly resulted in boycotts, diminished sales and a decision to put on leave two marketing executives who oversaw

Anheuser-Busch InBev is getting ready to pour cold beer on a brewing controversy.

After getting tangled in the nation’s culture wars with a Bud Light social-media promotion that included transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney — a move that unexpectedly resulted in boycotts, diminished sales and a decision to put on leave two marketing executives who oversaw the effort — the company hopes to move on with a new ad campaign that focuses on the many summer activities that present an appropriate moment for the beer, one of the best-known beverages in the United States. “Good Times,” the sunny 1978 hit by the dance-music group Chic, plays throughout.

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“We want to show up in all relevant occasions in summer — backyard barbecues, stadiums and sports venues,” says Todd Allen, an Anheuser-Busch veteran who was recently named vice president of Bud Light, in an interview. “That’s what counts and that’s what we are focused on.”

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In addition to a broad ad campaign that Allen says will show up on primetime broadcast TV, cable, and sports programming, Anheuser-Busch plans to tap NFL players and country music stars to pitch Bud Light to the masses. Tyler Braden, Seaforth and others will take part in a Bud Light Backyard Tour that brings musicians to intimate locations. And NFL athletes Travis Kelce, George Kittle and Dak Prescott will star in other ads ahead of the the football league’s 2023-2024 season. What’s more, Anheuser-Busch will give away $10,000 each week to a fan; give consumers a chance to win $100 toward their bar tab; and offer rebates over July 4th weekend.

Anheuser-Busch has “more than tripled our already weighty national media investment” behind Bud Light, Allen says. The brewing company spent approximately $60.1 million across traditional media for Bud Light in 2022, according to Vivvix, a tracker of ad spend, and has already spent nearly $40.8 million behind the product in the first quarter of 2023.

There’s good reason for the brewing titan to pour more out. Bud Light and Budweiser have long sought to capture attention with inspirational commercials featuring the company’s signature Clydesdale horses and sophomoric humor that tickles funny bones with anthropomorphic frogs and “Real Men of Genius.” But the company has found itself at the center of a cultural maelstrom in recent weeks, with the Mulvaney connection drawing the ire of some conservative segments of its consumer base. The musician Kid Rock posted a video on Twitter in which he shot cases of Bud Light with a gun.

Anheuser-Busch has been trying to expand customers for Bud Light, not divide them. Earlier this year, the first female executive placed in charge of marketing for the brand vowed to get younger consumers — who now have a raft of alcohol choices that include hard seltzers and spirits — to take interest. “We have to bring in new drinkers. That is the name of the game,” Alissa Heinerscheid told Variety in February. She unveiled a Super Bowl commercial that tamped down some of the frat-boy humor for which Bud Light has long been known and instead featured Miles and Keleigh Teller having a drink while being stuck on hold during a phone call. The emphasis was on portraying Bud Light as an easy-to-drink beer — one of the original sales points behind the brew when it was introduced in 1982.

By April, however, scrutiny was growing. The company sent personalized cans of Bud Light were sent to various influencers, including Mulvaney. Boycotts typically fizzle out, but by the second week of May, sales volume for Bud Light was off more than 28% compared with the same period last year in U.S. retail stores, according to an analysis of Nielsen data by Bump Williams, an industry consultant. Heinerscheid was placed on leave, along with a superior.

Bud Light’s Allen says sales have begun to stabilize, with “positive momentum” in states making up 47% of the beverage’s sales volume.

A number of prominent marketers have generated pushback recently by reaching out to new demographics, only to find older ones upset by their efforts. Target and Kohl’s spurred calls for boycotts after offering Pride Month-themed clothing. To be sure, no corporation sets out to offend its customers. But more American marketers are refining their pitches as the nation’s demographics shift, and their new promotions are often seized upon by a polarized U.S. populace. Simply put, there are more people of color and a bigger LGBTQ population in the U.S., and companies are eager to cultivate ties to them — and their wallets. Coca-Cola in 2014 ran a commercial that featured “America the Beautiful” sung in a variety of different languages. One year prior, General Mills’ Cheerios ran a spot featuring a Caucasian mother, a Black father and their daughter. Both commercials spurred backlash via social media.

Anheuser-Busch executives seemed caught off guard by the recent furor. “We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people,” said a statement issued by Brendan Whitworth, the executive who oversees Anheuser-Busch InBev’s North American business. “We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer.” The new Bud Light ad features both men and women, much like the recent Super Bowl commercial.

Now, the hope is to get back to the mission at hand: portraying Bud Light as a beer for many occasions. “What I have learned in the past six or seven weeks is that we have deeply passionate fans that love and care about this brand. and for the last 40 years, we have been the beer of easy enjoyment,” says Allen. “That’s what people expect from us and that’s what we are going to give them.”

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