NEW YORK (AP) – For the first time since 1983, when Anheuser-Busch used all his advertising time to introduce a beer called Bud Light, the beer giant does not advertise its iconic Budweiser brand during the Super Bowl. Instead, he donates the money he would have spent on advertising for coronavirus vaccination awareness efforts.
Anheuser-Busch has four more minutes of in-game advertising for its other brands, including Bud Light, Bud Light Seltzer Lemonade, Michelob Ultra and Michelob Ultra Organic Seltzer. These are some of his strongest sellers, especially among younger viewers.
But the decision not to advertise the ancient Budweiser – which for nearly four decades made American frog icons chirp “Budweiser”, the guys screaming “Whassup!” And, of course, Budweiser Clydesdales – presents the caution with which some advertisers approach. the first Super Bowl of the COVID era.
“We have a pandemic that threatens almost anything,” said Paul Argenti, a professor of corporate communications at Dartmouth College. “It’s hard to feel the exuberance and enthusiasm that people would normally feel.”
The Anheuser-Busch move follows a similar announcement from PepsiCo., Which will not advertise its biggest brand, Pepsi, to focus on sponsoring the show from the break. (It will advertise Mountain Dew and Frito-Lay products). Other veteran Super Bowl advertisers, such as Coca-Cola, Audi and Avocado from Mexico, handle the game.
These big brand absences are just another way that Super Bowl LV will look very different from previous years. Participation in the game will be limited to 22,000 people, about a third of the capacity of over 65,890 Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. And Super Bowl parties will be more likely to be smaller businesses with pods or families.
“I think advertisers are right to say that this year is a riskier year for the Super Bowl,” said Charles Taylor, a marketing professor at Villanova University. “With COVID and economic uncertainty, people are not necessarily in the best mood for a start. There is a risk associated with messages that are potentially too easy. … At the same time, there is the risk associated with doing something too gloomy. ”
The pandemic suddenly plummeted in sales for many Super Bowl advertisers. With expensive commercials costing about $ 5.5 million for 30 seconds during a Feb. 7 broadcast on CBS, some might have decided it wasn’t worth it this year. Coca-Cola, for example, has been hit hard, with half of its sales coming from stadiums, cinemas and other usually crowded places, which were closed during the pandemic. He announced layoffs in December, and said he said he would not advertise this year to make sure he was “investing in the right resources in these unprecedented times.”
To fill the gap, newcomers such as rival TikTok Triller, independent online marketplace Fiverr and online car salesman Vroom are rushing to take their place. Returned brands include M&M, Pringles, Toyota and others.
Companies running ads this year face a number of challenges. Super Bowl ads are usually developed months in advance and filmed in the fall, which means that ads delivered in two weeks were filmed in expensive pandemic conditions and with no idea how the presidential election would take place. This further complicates the already delicate process of setting a tone that recognizes what is happening to the world, managing to either entertain or pull the strings of the spectators and find a way to tie them all back to their brand.
“It’s a tough year to advertise,” Argenti said. “It’s going to be a good year for creative companies figuring out how to stick the needle.”
Monica Rustgi, Budweiser’s vice president of marketing, said the brand is still calculating how much it will spend on vaccine awareness. But she said it will be a “million dollar” commitment that includes donating broadcast time throughout this year to the nonprofit Ad Council and COVID Collaborative COVID-19 Vaccine Education Initiative.
Budweiser will continue to have a marketing presence around the big game. Starting Monday, the brand will air an announcement celebrating resistance during the pandemic, including a distant social anniversary parade and athletes in Black Lives Matter T-shirts. The ad, narrated by actress and director Rashida Jones, ends with the vaccination of health workers and talks about Budweiser’s donation.
In the age of social media and digital advertising, brands are not limited to running ads during an event, because consumers can see them online, anywhere from Facebook and Twitter to YouTube, said Rustgi of Budweiser. Also, Budweiser’s Super Bowl will not be long-term, she said.
“The Super Bowl is the most popular sporting event, apart from the World Cup, that everyone will see,” added Argenti of Dartmouth. “An event that attracts a lot of people to advertising will never go away.”
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Durbin reported from Detroit.