We didn’t like Budweiser’s ad about the company’s emergency water program. Actually, we liked the ad but didn’t think it was right for last night’s Super Bowl.
But consumers did. USA Today’s Ad Meter, which is based on consumer response to ads, placed it third.
On the other hand, Lorraine Kessler, writing in the Canton Repository, agreed with us. She noted Budweiser’s “Stand by You” is a sentimental ad, but doesn’t sell beer. “In 2017, Budweiser fell behind Miller Lite to become the nation’s fourth-best selling beer. Maybe making better beer would help. (If you really miss the horses, you can get them online in a commercial titled, “Beer Country.”),” Kessler wrote. She’s a principal and strategist at Innis Maggiore, which says it is “the nation’s leading positioning agency.”
She didn’t like Bud Light’s Super Bowl ad, either. “The Bud Light Knight disappointed,” she said.
The Washington Post was especially savage, we thought, declaring the “Stand by You” spot “a plea to its fleeing customers.”
An aside: Budweiser’s customers haven’t been fleeing. The parents of today’s new drinkers have just been trickling away, enticed by craft beer and other allurements. . That spells opportunity, if A-B can position Budweiser as the beer for a new generation of drinkers.