While watching the MLB All-Star Game last night, I couldn't help but notice some great ads for Budweiser. Baseball and a cold beer on a hot summer night, could there be a more perfect combination? No. Could there be anything more American? Well, that's where it gets tricky.
Last night's ads proclaimed Budweiser to be "The Great American Lager." Only a slight deviation from the message in this ad, posted to YouTube less than a month ago (if Christine were here to help me, you wouldn't have to click through to watch it, sorry).
What a feel-good ad! It's great to know that Budweiser is still American-owned. Only problem is, that's no longer true.
So up until very recently, Anheuser-Busch was running ads touting their domestic ownership. Now, while the ink is still wet on A-B's deal with Belgian brewer InBev, new TV spots reinforce the American image of Budweiser beer, but make no mention of corporate ownership.
Budweiser has a brand image to maintain, but these ads are sure to strike a raw nerve. A lot of people are upset over an iconic American brand being sold to a foreign company. What do you think? Have these ads entered insult-to-injury territory?
1 comment:
Can we sell Brett Favre to a foreign country too? I'd sure like to.
And to think Miller-Coors will do better in Chicago than Milwaukee is just sad. But that's probably a whole 'nother blog post. :)
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