Here’s the Bud Light ad that’s caused a bit of an uproar: It’s the one in which the Bud Light King, Bud Knight and friends are trying to decide what to do with a corn syrup barrel that was delivered to them in error. They go to the Miller Lite castle, but it already has its delivery of corn syrup. Then they go to the Coors Light castle, which has been looking for its corn syrup barrel. Bud Light isn’t brewed with corn syrup, they add.
You can argue that Bud Light has picked an unnecessary fight with MillerCoors and American corn farmers. Or you can argue that the humorous ad has garnered Bud Light millions of dollars of additional publicity. To quote P.T. Barnum, “I don’t care what the newspapers say about me as long as they spell my name right.”
Barnum’s point was that the more he got his name before the public, the more sales he racked up.
At any rate, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) wasn’t amused: “America’s corn farmers are disappointed with you… thanks Miller Lite and Coors Lite for supporting our industry,” they tweeted.
“It was a punch to corn farmers right in the gut. It was damaging to corn, and it leads people to believe that corn is a bad ingredient,” a NCGA spokesman said.
Kevin Ross, of Ross Farms, posted a video of himself pour a can of Bud Light down the drain as he says, “Bud Light, if you’re not standing with corn farmers, we’re not standing with you.”
The corn farmers have reason to be sensitive. First, high fructose corn syrup has been linked to health problems. Second, the trade war with China, in which the Communist country slapped a 25% tariff on imports of U.S. corn, left many farmers unable to sell their corn at a reasonable price.
One of those farmer was Brian Duncan, of Polo, Ill., who has about 500,000 bushels of unsold corn in silos. Before the tariffs, he could get more than $4 a bushel. Now he gets about $3.65.
Meanwhile, MillerCoors devoted an entire issue of its “Behind the Beer” blog to essentially point the finger at Bud Light and say “you do, too.” To be sure, Bud Light doesn’t use corn syrup. It uses rice, another fermentable carbohydrate that contributes very little flavor. But MillerCoors would have us understand that’s a difference without significance.
Indeed, MillerCoors notes, “a number of Anheuser-Busch products also use corn syrup. And on top of that, some of them use high-fructose corn syrup, which nutritionists have called ‘Public Health Enemy No. 1.’ No MillerCoors product uses high-fructose corn syrup,” it says, pointedly.
The ad didn’t produce a bitter after taste for Miller Lite. It tweeted: “Hey Bud Lite, thanks for including us in our first Super Bowl ad in over 20 years. You forgot two things, though… we have more taste and half the calories.
Who won this debate? If you apply P.T. Barnum’s standard, Bud Light. But then, it appeared to enlighten a number of drinkers. Alex Porter tweeted, “My favorite beer, Miller Lite, has corn syrup?”
And Alexis Kampe tweeted: “With all this ruckus caused from the bud light commercial, I’d just like to point out that:
“110 calories per 12 oz Bud Light
“102 calories per 12 oz coors light
“96 calories per 12 oz Miller lite.
“Bud Light may not have corn syrup, but it sure has the highest calorie content.”
We’ll see if President Trump weighs in during Tuesday’s State of the Union.