Budweiser Admits Craft Beer is for Real

As did millions, I watched the Super Bowl not only for the game but also for the awesome commercials. We all expected to see super cheesy ads from Bud Light and Budweiser and we did, but I'm sure few expected to be made fun of in front of millions. If you missed it Budweiser decided to poke fun at craft brewers, breweries and most of all craft beer drinkers. If you haven't seen the commercial yet go on YouTube and watch it real quick I'll wait........................

Ok did you watch it? I'm sure most of you were mad, offended or laughing at the two faced company since they indeed own craft breweries themselves. I have to give Budweiser credit though with the Super Bowl commercial at least it was honest.

Today's craft beer drinker would have to be bullied into drinking a Budweiser because that's they only way Budweiser will be able to make up for the market share loss at this point. Budweiser is the third most popular brand and it's clear by the commercial craft beer is taking a big bite out of their market share .To give you an idea as to why Budweiser would make such an ad I'll toss around some numbers. At Budweiser's peak in 1988 they were selling 50 million barrels a year. The number of barrels they sell today has declined to 16 million barrels. So factor in being in 3rd place out of the big 3 and craft beer continuing to grow you can see why Budweiser should as the famous line in the movie "The Fly" "be afraid. Be very afraid" of craft beer.
Budweiser stated in their commercial their beer isn't brewed to be "fussed over" "its beach wood aged" and "brewed for drinking not dissecting." This would explain a recent study that found 44% of beer drinkers notice I said beer drinkers aged 21 to 27 have never in their life had a Budweiser. Their beer is brewed "the hard way" and it appears they are going to go down that way as well. I had to laugh when they said "let them sip their pumpkin peach ale" if this doesn't show you just how out of touch Budweiser is I don't know what will. They can brew and keep their "golden suds" all to themselves those buds can be all for you.

Now don't get me wrong we all have to start somewhere in our beer drinking journey but it seems nowadays most are starting with craft beer and more and more people are realizing beer doesn't have to taste like water with a little bit of hops in it. I'm not knocking those that enjoy BMC beer either to each their own beer is meant to be enjoyed so by all means enjoy it. I just hope Budweiser realizes they pretty much dropped a different type of "golden suds" on the craft breweries they own and have shown how they really feel about them at the end of the day. The fall out in the days and weeks to come should be very interesting to see as this will bring the craft beer community together even more.

image courtesy of dribbleglass.com
I'll take this final moment here to thank Budweiser for their commercial I found it hilarious and I won't even argue that craft beer is better I'll just end with a spin on a quote from "The Fresh Prince and Dj Jazzy Jeff "So to all the craft beer drinkers from across the land there's no need to argue Budweiser just doesn't understand. ".
As always you can catch me on Beer Advocate ,Ratebeer and Homebrewtalk under the name Ohiobeer29 or on twitter at @ohiobeer29 to trade beer stories, reviews and thoughts on the next great beer to look out for.

 

[austin]

As a writer and editor, mad props go to Raymond for finding a way to use a Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff joke.
Really, well done!

 

[unionrdr]

I found it amusing that they made fun of the beer the brewery they just aquired makes. It brings to mind the question of; are they trying to buy up craft breweries to drag them down to nothing? Or are they trying to quietly ride their coat tales? We'll see what the future holds.

 

[Allergic2hops]

I missed this commercial! Thanks for the post! Although just a home brewer, I was a huge Budweiser drinker during the 1988 peak. I felt pride in seeing that commercial. I have converted several Macro Brew drinkers over the last 10 years as I am sure all of you have. Good bye Budweiser, doesn't look like the US is going to miss you in the next 10 years.

 

[jfin22]

I thought it was a brilliant commercial. IMHO I thought it was doing its best to shame the craft beer drinkers into switching back to an "American classic" beer. To me, its stating that you are not a man if you drink Peach Pumpkin Ale or any craft beer.
However, I think the commercial failed miserably. It brought to the forefront the damage that craft breweries have done to the major American beer market. It was more of a success for craft beer drinkers and breweries to be noticed and bullied by one of the major brands.
Cheers to all you homebrewers and craft breweries!
Now I'm gonna go put on my fuzzy bunny slippers and drink my Peach Pumkin Ale...uh...right after I split some firewood and kill a few animals for dinner.

 

[Cultkid]

Call me crazy but I'd rather sip a really great beer than try and get bloated chugging down 12 cans of cardboard flavoured fizzy water.

 

[bob1852]

Meh, Budweiser has lost more market share to Bud Light, Bud Light Lime, and Lime-A-Rita (and it's spin offs) than craft beer could ever hope for.
Drink what you like, like what you drink.

 

[rashadx100]

AB makes fun of the Pumpkin Ale. This was pulled from paste magazine.com. "Elysian Brewing, the Seattle brewery that Anheuser just purchased last week, makes a ... yes ... pumpkin peach ale. It's called "Gourdia on My Mind ." Anheuser is literally mocking the consumers of the COMPANIES THEY NOW OWN. Honestly, how devastating is that for the Elysian brewing team? Your owners think your customers are pretentious hipsters. These are the people who own your business. "
AB being so huge had the opportunity decades ago to make a craft beer market line and now their name is tarnished having made fun of craft beer. I'll never have a 10 barrel beer or Elysian beer again! Screw AB.

 

[fflynn]

Perhaps they are advertising their "pumpkin peach ale", in as much as any publicity is good publicity. I'll stick with the four major food groups, barley, hops, yeast and water.

 

[gallonbrewer]

I actually want to support IB more now, not because of the commercial but because of this huge backlash from everyone. In a world where people are quickly jumping to "I'm offended and you're bad for saying mean things" this backlash is getting a little out of hand. I can't log in to Facebook or check Pinterest without seeing two or three articles dissecting their commercial. Sticks and stones anyone? It's a stretch to say they are making fun of craft beer. Not once in that commercial did I feel patronized for drinking craft beer, because IB is right in saying craft beer is meant to be sipped and discussed and enjoyed, that's the point! Budweiser is on a lower level than craft beer and all they did was state that, and I love the honesty.
I will certainly as a military member miss IB if they go downhill. Their support for the troops can't be matched at the micro brewery level.

 

[zrule]

Can't figure out why everyone refers to anheiser as ab when it's really ib

 

[sudbuddy]

HBT really needs to implement a proofreading policy for submitted articles. This is the third article this week that is basically unreadable because of poor spelling, grammar and absolute lack of punctuation. While I agree with the thesis of the article, and I think that the writer makes some very good points, it is pretty hard to read without any commas.

 

[hillclimber]

Better hope the Budweiser horses never get a taste of good craft beer they will be gone never to be found lol

 

[bhambrew]

@sudbuddy this forum is about beer & brewing. I applaud the effort of those who take the time to submit articles and engage the members. Many articles include photos, video, and in this case a bit of research. We are not professional journalists, we are homebrewers.
Austin volunteers to manage this page, and I think he does a good job providing a variety of thought provoking and/or entertaining articles for us. If you are looking for perfect grammar and spelling, I'm sure there is a another forum devoted to just that.
Here is some punctuation for you to throw in where needed,,,,,,,,,,.........

 

[azscoob]

This is a thought I have been knocking around in my head for some time, that yellow fizz is seeing the truth, people are going back to Americas beer roots... Craft beer, brewed by local breweries. Sure there are many beer drinkers who are all about their BMC but as noted in the article fewer and fewer young beer drinkers are going to yellow fizz.
I support my local breweries and I promote local beer culture as should all beer loving folk, talk to your local breweries and local pubs serving craft beer about having beer tasting events, or beer and food pairings, maybe talk to them about hosting a brewery tour and home-brew event for people to see what homebrewing is about, and how commercial brewing and homebrewing can work together to build better beer culture.
I'm working on my own thing currently, but rest assured there will always be a homebrewer connection... Competitions with winners brewing on commercial equipment, and I'm thinking about posible internship programs..
Lots of thoughts to help take a bite out of yellow fizz.

 

[sudbuddy]

@bhambrew it's not too hard to revise an article. We all learned not to submit rough drafts in 3rd grade. I was in no means knocking @austin at all. I applaud his time devoted to volunteering and would actually like to help. I've volunteered to proofread articles for HBT before because I think there should be a distinction between forum posts and articles and part of that should be spelling and grammar. Publishing an article implies that the material is revised or at least has been read before being posted. Posting on a forum has no such implications and I don't care if a forum post is well or poorly written. Articles are different, and as I said, I would love to help. I'm not a troll, I actually care.

 

[Live2Brew]

Brilliant ad! Was getting a little self conscious there for a moment. Grew up drinking this among similar others. All I can say is that there is a time and place for it, but if you are not exploring what craft brew has to offer, you are missing out!

 

[JDWebb]

AB, they ruined a great beer called Rolling Rock a number of years ago when suddenly craft beer started impacting revenues of big breweries. Then, in order to launch a "can't beat 'em, join 'em" campaign when they discovered they couldn't beat up on small craft brewers, they acquired and/or bought small craft brews to join the market. This ad is like calling the kettle black in my opinion. AB is losing ground to small craft breweries, and they aren't afraid to admit it in this unique way!

 

[evanmars]

I agree with all of the points, but at the risk of being a grammar nazi, throw in a few commas!

 

[Live2Brew]

Recognizing craft brew in a multimillion dollar ad during the superbowl...this is some serious publicity!

 

[Cyclman]

Recently read the book on the Busch family- bitter brew. Great book, and it's wonderful to see the pressure exerted on them by the craft industry.
But craft is a long way from having much of an impact on BMC. Our culture is still one of mass produced, minimally flavored beer.

 

[Live2Brew]

Craft may always be craft and mass produced the same. Clearly different variables at play to determine who drinks what. There is a drive for craft to create and to show folks what it is all about. And the big brewers have interests weighted more in the economics. I love that craft is showing folks there is something beyond what they are used to. So many creative brewers...how awesome is that!

 

[JPrather]

I guess I'm in the minority in thinking this commercial was not only not offensive, but pretty funny, and probably reasonably effective.

 

[rmyurick]

@zrule actually, it's now "ABInBev"

 

[steveh01420]

I did laugh at this commercial... If they wanted to bang out high quality craft brew they certanly could and would do a good job. Remember when they bought Rolling Rock and brewed it wrong on purpose to get that diacetyl flavor. They know how to make beer the easy way. Now I am going to make a Porter the hard way!!!

 

[BrewSavage]

Since when was Rolling Rock ever considered craft brew?

 

[aopisa]

I am now waiting for McDonalds to air a commercial mocking those who want to enjoy a good steak dinner.

 

[Komocabo]

Did anyone see the Ninkasi commercial (not aired)?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEKqLxtjwDQ
It is simply awesome and I think it was a well done response.
Cheers

 

[bford]

Now they are looking into buying Cigar City out of Tampa, FL. I don't know if Cigar City is interested in selling, but they did say InBev was inquiring about buying them.

 

[zrule]

I recommend "A Bitter Brew" It is a great read and history of AB

 

[bford]

@azscoob
Hear, Hear! Well said.

 

[fredthecat]

as others said i think it's a great strategy from an awful company for an awful product. can you imagine the horrendous *****ebags who came up with this marketing concept though?

 

[Opiate42]

This is only the beginning.
More and more micro-breweries are going to get bought up by BMC's simply to be closed. Removal of the competition. We must resist a return to the dark days of bland formulaic "beers" of the past.
:'(

 

[HopSolo]

@zrule Maybe because nobody knows what InBev is and everyone knows what Anheuser-Busch is?

 

[Kindogg]

I think a lot of people here are missing the point of this ad. This ad is not aimed at most of us (people who know about beer and love craft beer). This ad is aimed at people who know very little about craft beer. I personally found it to be a very effecting ad in that respect. Its basically saying "you don't want to look like a hipster do you?" Long story short the ad was for one product that InBev owns (Bud) which has always been marketed as a "blue collar" beverage. Elysian (and most craft beer) is generally maketed as a higher quality product for more refined tastes at a higher cost. It's just marketing.
Long story short, anyone who finds this commercial "offensive" needs to relax and have a beer.

 

[wstbrewing]

@sudbuddy
"We all learned not to submit rough drafts in 3rd grade... I don't care if a forum post is well or poorly written. Articles are different, and as I said, I would love to help. I'm not a troll, I actually care"
As an English Professor, I agree completely with this. Articles are different, and they should be checked and edited. I would also love to help in this regard. It would be nice to see potential articles distributed to a few reviewers or editors before publication. I would be happy to help as well.
As for the Bud ad... I'll just say I am tired of reading and hearing about it. As Kindogg said, "Long story short, anyone who finds this commercial "offensive" needs to relax and have a beer."

 

[rhys333]

It's a well done commercial, no doubt. Attacking craft beer shows they feel threatened though. Will be interesting to see how the craft industry responds.

 

[BombTech7]

Personally, brewing beer is about the excitement of what flavor that brew has to offer when it is finished. Being a snob about beer makes it less fun. I think this is what AB was getting at with the commercial. I still drink Bud Light on the regular. When I am feeling a little frosty, I drink a Blue Moon. So, in the words of the most influential comedian/actor of the 20th/21st century, "Gold jacket, green jacket, who gives a s***?"
As to the grammar... I would be more than happy to assist in editing articles. Grammar is the most important aspect in communicating through written messages. Sadly, most teens in the US can't decipher the differences between normal written communication and texting. If there is any way to help, let me know.

 

[10ACbrew]

Kindogg hit it perfectly as the ad was meant for their current followers.
Now, from a marketing standpoint, what does that show?
1. AB actually has someone in their employment or a contractor they are paying who realizes and acknowledges they are losing business to craft breweries.
2. Their marketing department has it's head in the sand. Seriously, American capitalism is about expanding the market. All these guys are doing is trying to "stop the bleeding". That can't and won't last forever.
3. Some of those long time lite beer drinkers will probably try a craft beer after that ad and realize they have been missing out. On the other hand, I doubt any craft beer drinkers are going to feel compelled to go out and buy a case of "The King of Beers". End result, more loss of market share for AB.
Got to love it! Free advertising for the craft beer world... All on AB's dime!

 

[Grossy]

@evanmars
On comments, poor grammar and typos are acceptable, (up to a certain point).
In professional journalism they are not. Since MS Word automatically points out poor grammar, I have to believe this is another article written on a "Smart" phone.
Smart Phones... making people dumber since the year 2000.