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Bud Light looks to wash away bad taste of Dylan Mulvaney fiasco with Super Bowl ad

January 26, 2024 | | Print Article

Bud Light is hoping that a new Super Bowl ad will wash away the sour taste of the ill-fated decision to partner with transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney, a move that resulted in billions of dollars in lost revenue.

Looking to make a big comeback with beer drinkers who tune into the big game, Anheuser-Busch is sponsoring the 60-second ad for the badly damaged brand along with a 30-second spot for Budweiser that will feature the famous Clydesdale horses and highlights the work of wholesalers that will air during the February 11 NFL title game which typically draws the year’s largest viewing audience.

The company will also air a one-minute commercial for the Michelob Ultra brand featuring Argentinian soccer star Lionel Messi, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Seeking to move beyond the toxic left-wing political agenda, the ad will be a return to the humorous commercials of the past that appealed to a wide audience and will feature a brand-new addition to the Bud Light universe briefly seen in a teaser for the Super Bowl spot that was released on Thursday.

In the 12-second sneak preview, Steppenwolf’s “Magic Carpet Ride” is heard with an image of a Bud Light jacket and a man wearing wraparound sunglasses then flashes to a bearded man holding a Bud Light and wearing a Peyton Manning Denver Broncos jersey, acting surprised and asking “Are you…?” before the Super Bowl LVIII logo is shown, building anticipation for the big unveil.

“We need to make sure for these moments of massive reach that we choose the right brands to meet the moment, not only on the TV screen, but brands that can really scale out the opportunity that Super Bowl and the NFL playoffs and everything else provide,” Anheuser-Busch chief commercial officer Kyle Norrington is quoted by the WSJ. “These are the brands that we thought deserve that opportunity this year.”

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“You’re going to see what…our brand lovers expect, which is some really funny advertising,” Norrington added of the company’s “Easy to Drink, Easy to Enjoy” marketing campaign.

The blame for the catastrophic hookup with Mulvaney was laid squarely at the feet of the “woke” Harvard-educated former marketing chief Alissa Heinerscheid whose big idea to reboot the popular brand’s “fratty” and “out of touch” image with the promotion of a lifestyle that millions of beer drinkers find to be repulsive will be taught in business schools as a cautionary case study for decades if not longer.

So poorly received were the Mulvaney ads that consumers boycotted Bud Light, knocking the brand from its lofty position as the nation’s top-selling beer as unwanted cases of the familiar blue and white cans sat aging on retailer and warehouse shelves as beer drinkers discovered a taste for other products, especially Modelo Especial.

The brand had previously tried to recover from the Mulvaney fiasco with more traditionally manly ads, including one of Taylor Swift’s future boyfriend Travis Kelce, and other grunting men lounging around on lawn chairs, a spot that was widely panned.

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If the reaction from X users is any sort of indication, it won’t be as easy as running a new Super Bowl ad to lure back the beer drinkers who were alienated by the Mulvaney ads.

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“Thirty seconds of commercial time during the Super Bowl will cost many advertisers around $7 million, but prices can vary based on factors including how many spots companies buy,” the Wall Street Journal reported.

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Chris Donaldson
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