A-B Trots Out Super Bowl Ad Lineup
Anheuser-Busch (A-B) will run five commercials for three of its top brands during FOX’s broadcast of Super Bowl XLV on Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011, marking the iconic St. Louis-based company’s 23rd straight season in the role of the Big Game’s exclusive malt beverage category advertiser. In addition to the two best-selling beers in the United States, Budweiser and Bud Light, import brand Stella Artois will feature for the first time in Super Bowl advertising.
“When you consider the number of adult beer drinkers who tune in to see the game -- and the commercials -- this is where our brands have a starring role,” noted A-B president Dave Peacock.
In keeping with Super Bowl tradition, the “Wild West” spot stars the famous Budweiser Clydesdales, joined this year by actor Peter Stormare, who portrays a parched gunslinger with an itchy trigger-finger. “Wild West” was produced for Budweiser by New York-based agency Anomaly.
In a first for the brand, 15-second versions of the ad aired during Sunday’s NFC and AFC Championship Games on FOX and CBS, to create excitement in advance of the full-length commercial. The brand additionally plans to release an iAd after the Super Bowl on Monday, Feb. 7 that will include behind-the-scenes footage; free iTunes downloads of the song played in the spot; and a 24-hour takeover of all iPhone applications, all available to consumers 25 years old and up.
Also, three ads produced by DDB in Chicago and St. Louis' Cannonball in the “Here We Go” campaign will roll out during the Super Bowl, and Belgian-style lager Stella Artois will make its Super Bowl ad debut in a spot produced by London agency Mother as part of the brand’s “She is a Thing of Beauty” campaign. Details of these ads will be unveiled soon.
Right after the Super Bowl, fans will be able to view all five ads on the Internet. The Budweiser and Bud Light spots will be available on the websites, Facebook pages, mobile sites and YouTube pages of each brand, while the Stella Artois ad will be available on the brand’s U.S. website and Facebook page, in addition to its “La Societe” website and Facebook page.
Besides brewing Budweiser and Bud Light, A-B owns a 50 percent share in Grupo Modelo, Mexico’s leading brewer. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev.