My Letter to Budweiser

Williams 728
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The thing that should insult most people here and has been hinted at is this: the point of the commercial is the aggressive celebration of mediocrity.

It follows the trend of treating the mediocre as somehow more genuine, and the excellent as shallow elitism.

This should come as an insult to every brewer, writer, builder, machinist, carpenter, painter, sculptor, electrician, woodworker, shipbuilder, computer programmer, and everyone else who strives for excellence in their craft.
 
YeastMode said:
By the way, I still have a big problem with your awful cousin Bud Light Platinum for stealing $10 from me.
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Great letter, it was funny but when I hit this part I was rolling on the floor! I feel the exact same way about Bud Light Platinum.:cross:
 
At what point can we consider this dead horse completely flogged? I don't care what anyone on this planet thinks of me, my passion for delicious beverages, or how I enjoy them. A goofy ad campaign by a company that has lined their pockets slinging the lowest common denominator of said beverages has no sway with me.
 
kombat said:
*yawn* What else is new?

I saw a GMC commercial over the weekend that asked a bunch of kids to demonstrate the difference between how a "truck guy" shakes hands versus how the (presumably limp-wristed) "car guy" would do it.

The commercial ended with a flawless shot of a shiny, sparkling truck on a pedestal, with the text and voiceover (in a deep, manly voice, of course) telling me "You know you want a truck."

Really? Is that what advertising has come to? The same argument I used on teenage girls in high school? "Come on, you know you wanna."

That's bad enough, but get ready, because here comes the real shocker. Are you sitting down? Get this. GMC is owned by GM, which also owns several other brands (like Chevrolet and Cadillac). Brace yourself: THOSE BRANDS MAKE AND SELL CARS! GMC is insulting their own company!

I'll pause here and give you a moment to wipe the Fanta off your computer monitor.



Can you sell 300 million cases a year of them? No? Then it's not really the same thing, is it?
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Thanks for all that, I had no idea how marketing worked. Hope you feel better.
 
This is where screennames give us some insight into what will happen should we open a discourse with them.
 
1977Brewer said:
At what point can we consider this dead horse completely flogged? I don't care what anyone on this planet thinks of me, my passion for delicious beverages, or how I enjoy them. A goofy ad campaign by a company that has lined their pockets slinging the lowest common denominator of said beverages has no sway with me.
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Agreed.

Also, I imagine a large swath (maybe not all) of people here would overall praise Free Market Capitalism as working, and our Representative Democracy as a good system.

However when you put those two things together, you get the sort of monopolizing aggregation of those who tried hard in the beginning (when AB was just a small brewery like all the others) and those who want to continue to build an empire (AB now).

If we had a true democracy, where lobbyists couldn't walk the halls of congress handing out stacks of cash for a law or deregulation in return, then monopolies may not be such a big problem.

But the rich want to stay rich, and get richer. And the only way they can do that is to gobble up the competition. And since they can purchase the loopholes to do it, they're going to.

I guess what I'm saying is we can't have it both ways. We cant exult Free Market Capitalism as "the best" economic system and yet continue to decry "The Man" when they ultimately use that system to their advantage. AB is the All American Dream Rags To Riches story that we're all told we can achieve. If we're going to pump the Capitalist brand, then we should honestly be happy for them.
 
The butthurt is strong in this thread.

I don't see the sense in getting one's panties in a wad over a dumb commercial.

And c'mon, sometimes some of us brewers and/or beer enthusiasts do tend to take ourselves a little too seriously. While I didn't agree with the commercial, I thought it was kind of funny.

This whole thing smells like the BWW "bratwurst beer" commercial all over again....

 
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hunter_la5 said:
The butthurt is strong in this thread.

I don't see the sense in getting one's panties in a wad over a dumb commercial.

And c'mon, sometimes some of us brewers and/or beer enthusiasts do tend to take ourselves a little too seriously. While I didn't agree with the commercial, I thought it was kind of funny.

This whole thing smells like the BWW "bratwurst beer" commercial all over again....

BWW "bratwurst beer"
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Pretty jelz of that dude's tap wall.
 
I saw the video,
Damn me eyes,
with a cutlass swipe or an ounce of lead,
And a yawning hole with a battered head,
With a rowl like that,
he should be struck dumb.
Wrapped in mauns'le tight,
With twice ten turns of a houser's bite.
With a yo heave ho,
& fare thee well, with a southern plunge,
And a southern swell...
Ten fathoms deep on the road to hell...
Yo ho ho & the video's dumb! He doth ramble too much ya harrr!
 
While I am completely on board for the discussions and outcry to end over that commercial, at least this letter takes it to a level of hilarity. As for Morgan Freeman narrating, no. Samuel MF Jackson my friends. He'll deliver it with ease...sorta.

Good job op! I liked it a lot.
 
hunter_la5 said:
Anyone who doesn't think craft beer people deserve a little mockery, take a look at this guy's beer review videos.

See if you can sit through even ONE of his videos. I dare you.
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I picked the shortest one and after almost a minute and a half I just couldn't do it anymore. Blather, blather, blather, blah, blah, blah. Look at the camera you dolt! Ten seconds of him drinking and saying mmm, yeah. Then blathering some more. Can we start putting together a fund to go punch this dude in the face?
 
Marc77 said:
I picked the shortest one and after almost a minute and a half I just couldn't do it anymore. Blather, blather, blather, blah, blah, blah. Look at the camera you dolt! Ten seconds of him drinking and saying mmm, yeah. Then blathering some more. Can we start putting together a fund to go punch this dude in the face?
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I do things like this.


and this.
 
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Sounds like a lot of people who saw the commercial were genuinely offended by it. How do we know that? Because they are talking about it. Did a bunch of exect's sit in a room discussing what population they intended to offend and how they could best go about it? Who knows? But we're talking about it. Would a company as shrewd as AB purposely assume the risk of offending someone when everyone is a potential consumer? Don't know, but let's talk about it. Were the craft beer cameos meant to imply "craft beer drinkers are nerds and Bud drinkers are hipsters"? Maybe, maybe not. But why not talk about it? Was it enough of a campaign to cause a beer drinker to be loyal to his brand? Is that what they want everyone to think? Don't know, but a lot of people are TALKING about it. Getting the picture?

AB produced a commercial the effect of which was calculated --- and it worked.

You see, the commercial was engineered (sorry, but it's TV; it's "manufactured" reality) to get people TALKING. Not about the craft VS. Bud war, but the [BUDWEISER] commercial! Those exect's sat around that room thinking of doing whatever it takes to get people saying the name 'Budweiser' for many weeks after the commercial airs. And everyone here (including myself) and around the world who has commented on the commercial positively or negatively --- it doesn't matter --- have become part and parcel --- i.e., sucked into --- AB's vortex of free advertising. It doesn't matter WHAT you thought about the commercial --- AB DOESN'T CARE! All they care about is that you walk away TALKING about it. AB Advertising Mission accomplished!
 
Pete_WNY said:
Sounds like a lot of people who saw the commercial were genuinely offended by it. How do we know that? Because they are talking about it. Did a bunch of exect's sit in a room discussing what population they intended to offend and how they could best go about it? Who knows? But we're talking about it. Would a company as shrewd as AB purposely assume the risk of offending someone when everyone is a potential consumer? Don't know, but let's talk about it. Were the craft beer cameos meant to imply "craft beer drinkers are nerds and Bud drinkers are hipsters"? Maybe, maybe not. But why not talk about it? Was it enough of a campaign to cause a beer drinker to be loyal to his brand? Is that what they want everyone to think? Don't know, but a lot of people are TALKING about it. Getting the picture?

AB produced a commercial the effect of which was calculated --- and it worked.

You see, the commercial was engineered (sorry, but it's TV; it's "manufactured" reality) to get people TALKING. Not about the craft VS. Bud war, but the [BUDWEISER] commercial! Those exect's sat around that room thinking of doing whatever it takes to get people saying the name 'Budweiser' for many weeks after the commercial airs. And everyone here (including myself) and around the world who has commented on the commercial positively or negatively --- it doesn't matter --- have become part and parcel --- i.e., sucked into --- AB's vortex of free advertising. It doesn't matter WHAT you thought about the commercial --- AB DOESN'T CARE! All they care about is that you walk away TALKING about it. AB Advertising Mission accomplished!
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I thought the point of an advertisement was to get people to buy the product, not just talk about it. no wonder I've been talking about Nike shoes and George Foreman Grills for years without ever buying one!
 
unionrdr said:
Good letter, I hope you sent it. But this horse has been beaten enough.
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Really? Without even an apology from the typical 2 faced corporate giant? Not a chance. This commercial was an insult to all the small craft Brewers, the many home brewers and particularly to the craft brewers the walmart of beer has bought over the years because they are too cumbersome to apply the knowledge of 120+ years of brewing in such a way that they are able to come up with something original.
 
Billy-Klubb said:
I thought the point of an advertisement was to get people to buy the product, not just talk about it. no wonder I've been talking about Nike shoes and George Foreman Grills for years without ever buying one!
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And I have never bought a bud. I've had a few but never bought one just never cared for them and plenty of other industrial beers are available. I did however collect bud steins at one time but haven't got a new one in 15 years or so. Yes great commercial in that it got people talking unfortunately for them those of us that are actually talking about it are those that brew beer and are not likely to be swayed into buying more of their product. The only others likely to be swayed by the commercial and increase their sales are those unable to drink beer yet more of a subliminal thing in my opinion. For the most part anyone else is unlikely to remember the commercial because for a super bowl commercial it was amazingly bland.
 
I think that's my big problem with this ad. So, you're painting non-Bud drinkers as effete man boys. Okay, so you make non-Bud drinkers mad and less likely to buy your product. You make Bud drinkers feel superior to the wimps enjoying a well made beer. This may or may not lead them to buy more of your product. Leaving aside the argument that these folks buy a set volume of beer, so there's no real expansion to be expected.

Therefore, the net value of this commercial seems to be nil. Just entrenches both sides and lets each feel superior to the other.
 
1977Brewer said:
This is where screennames give us some insight into what will happen should we open a discourse with them.
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I'm sorry, I just can't help myself. The stupidity is mind-boggling. People are acting like the advertising folks at Budweiser are idiots for making fun of craft beer drinkers. They apparently don't realize that the advertising folks at Budweiser have but one job: to sell Budweiser. Not to sell Budweiser and Goose Island or Budweiser and Stella Artois, or anything else besides Budweiser. If Bud sales go up because of their commercial, then they were successful.

Besides, it's not like people are going to stop drinking Elysian because Budweiser made fun of craft beer drinkers - they're going to stop drinking Elysian because Budweiser bought it. Budweiser can't win, so they instead went to their roots - Joe Sixpack American blue collar beer drinker.

I guess I just don't understand how people I would otherwise consider quite intelligent (HBT community) could be so naïve, ignorant, uninformed, whatever you want to call it about how simple capitalism/advertising/economics works. There's nothing shocking about the ad. It's exactly what I would expect from the marketing team at Budweiser. When you think about it, any other ad would've been odd. The one they made just makes sense.
 
This ad wasn't made to sell more Bud though, it was made to try and stop losing customers. Obviously they wont win over the craft market so they don't really care what we think but that they need to try stop their base jumping to our side is a sad indictment of their marketing to date. And I say marketing because they have the smallest market share of BMC and you couldn't honestly say one was worse than the other.

So yeah they bought the most expensive ad time on the planet to say "oh don't try that other stuff, I know they told you it was tasty but they're a bunch of a nerds and posers. You're not a snobby, nerdy, poser are you? Because thats what all your friends will think if you stop drinking Bud. So just keep quiet and drink your fizzy, tasteless, fussless crap. This ones for you chump!"
 
Let's understand one thing: Budweiser is not going to lose to craft beer. They are too massive and light lager is STILL going to be the #1 beer in this land and many others.

It's an easy to drink beer, cheap to make, cheap to buy, and a LOT of people like to drink it.

The question is how much of a bite can craft beer take out of the market, and how will that affect how Bud spends it's money and how many shifts it has to run, or how many fermentors are kept full on a regular basis.

At some point the craft beer market will be saturated and the brotherhood of craft beer makers will start to crumble as they realize that there is no more reason to band together against the evil conglomerate, but rather they will have to acquire market from other craft brewers.

Now I can't say when that will be, but it will happen.

Bud's SB ad is just poking fun. First they did it to homebrewers, then to craft beer. I find it pretty obvious that they would give digs to what is readily identified as the competition. Less obvious is why they would feature an ad about a lost puppy, which has NOTHING to do with their beer or anything about them. I'm a sensitive guy, but I have to roll my eyes at that one. It's the chick flick of advertisements.
 
Hey, everybody loves puppies, right? Seems like they're lashing out any way they can. Regardless though, their advertising does come off as rather lame & obvious.
 
Homercidal said:
Let's understand one thing: Budweiser is not going to lose to craft beer. They are too massive and light lager is STILL going to be the #1 beer in this land and many others.

It's an easy to drink beer, cheap to make, cheap to buy, and a LOT of people like to drink it.

The question is how much of a bite can craft beer take out of the market, and how will that affect how Bud spends it's money and how many shifts it has to run, or how many fermentors are kept full on a regular basis.

At some point the craft beer market will be saturated and the brotherhood of craft beer makers will start to crumble as they realize that there is no more reason to band together against the evil conglomerate, but rather they will have to acquire market from other craft brewers.

Now I can't say when that will be, but it will happen.

Bud's SB ad is just poking fun. First they did it to homebrewers, then to craft beer. I find it pretty obvious that they would give digs to what is readily identified as the competition. Less obvious is why they would feature an ad about a lost puppy, which has NOTHING to do with their beer or anything about them. I'm a sensitive guy, but I have to roll my eyes at that one. It's the chick flick of advertisements.
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:rockin:
 
Eucrid said:
This ad wasn't made to sell more Bud though, it was made to try and stop losing customers. Obviously they wont win over the craft market ....
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They obviously won't win over the craft market??? Sweetheart, historically they have trounced the craft beer market in terms of revenue, they continue to do so until this day, and if I had to guess I can't think of a more sure bet that they will continue to do so in the future and for years to come.

Five year stock performance of ABI

I'm as rabid of craft brew fan as the next guy, but craft beer holds maybe 10-12% of the market share at this point....that is literally peanuts on the floor.
 
broadbill said:
They obviously won't win over the craft market??? Sweetheart, historically they have trounced the craft beer market in terms of revenue, they continue to do so until this day, and if I had to guess I can't think of a more sure bet that they will continue to do so in the future and for years to come.

Five year stock performance of ABI

I'm as rabid of craft brew fan as the next guy, but craft beer holds maybe 10-12% of the market share at this point....that is literally peanuts on the floor.
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"Win over", as in "bring existing craft beer consumers over to the macro beer side". Not as in "outperform in market share". That's obviously not going to happen any time soon. No need to be condescending.
 
Billy-Klubb said:
I thought the point of an advertisement was to get people to buy the product, not just talk about it. no wonder I've been talking about Nike shoes and George Foreman Grills for years without ever buying one!
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I don't own Nikes or a GF grill, either. But that is exactly my point. Millions of people don't buy GEICO insurance, but I can guarantee you that those who talk about their commercials have exponentially increased GEICO's bottom line in spite of not actually purchasing their product.

"Advertising" creates an awareness of [Sham Wow!] a product. I don't want to pick on [Sham Wow!] any one particular product, but we all know that a really stupid commercial will turn us off [Sham Wow!] to ever considering buying that product, since even stupidity [Sham Wow!] has its place in advertising. Some commercials [Sham Wow!] are intentionally made so badly and so annoying just so people will stand around and discuss how bad [Sham Wow!] and annoying that commercial was. Still [Sham Wow!], you'll still end up talking about the product. And for better or worse, the more that people talk [Sham Wow!] about a product, the more popular it will become. And like it or not, fame = [Sham Wow!] revenue.
 

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