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 brewing giant did not advertise its iconic Budweiser brand during the Super Bowl. Instead, she is donating the money she would have spent on the ad for coronavirus vaccination awareness efforts.
Anheuser-Busch still has four 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 best sellers, especially among younger viewers.
But the decision not to make any Budweiser announcements, which over nearly four decades, has caused American frog icons to ring “Budweiser,” which they shouted “Whassup!” And, of course, the Budweiser Clydesdales – shows the caution with which some advertisers approach the first Super Bowl of the COVID era.
“We have a pandemic that is affecting almost everything,” said Paul Argenti, a professor of corporate communications at Dartmouth College. “It’s hard to feel the exuberance and excitement that people normally feel.”
The Anheuser-Busch movement follows a similar announcement from PepsiCo., Which will not announce its biggest brand, Pepsi, to focus on sponsoring the half-year program. (Mountain Dew and Frito-Lay products will be advertised). Other veteran Super Bowl advertisers, such as Coca-Cola, Audi and Avocados de México, are sitting in the game.
These absences from big brands are just one more way that the Super Bowl LV will look very different from previous years. Attendance at the game will be limited to 22,000 people, about a third of the capacity of more than 65,890 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. And is that Super Bowl parties are more likely to be minor issues with pods or families.
“I think advertisers are right to pick that this is a riskier year for the Super Bowl,” said Charles Taylor, a professor of marketing at the University of Villanova. “With COVID and economic uncertainty, people are not necessarily in the best mood to start. There is a risk associated with potentially too light messages. … At the same time, there is a risk associated with doing anything too bleak. “
The pandemic has dropped dramatically in sales for many Super Bowl advertisers. With expensive ads costing about $ 5.5 million for 30 seconds during the Feb. 7 broadcast on CBS, some may have decided it’s not worth it this year. Coca-Cola, for example, has been hit hard as half of its sales come from stadiums, movie theaters and other places normally crowded and closed during the pandemic. He announced layoffs in December, and said he will not announce this year to ensure he “invests in the right resources during these unprecedented times.”
To fill the void, newcomers like rival TikTok Triller, independent online marketplace Fiverr and online car salesman Vroom are rushing to take their place. The returning brands are M&M, Pringles, Toyota and others.
Companies running ads this year face a number of challenges. Super Bowl announcements usually run months in advance and run in the fall, meaning ads that run in two weeks were shot in expensive pandemic conditions and with no idea how the presidential election would unfold. . This further complicates the already delicate process of capturing a tone that recognizes what is happening to the world, managing to entertain or stretch the strings of viewers and finding ways to link everything to their brand.
“It’s a tough year to make an announcement,” Argenti said. “It will be a good year for creative companies to figure out how to thread this needle.”
Monica Rustgi, vice president of marketing for Budweiser, said the brand is still figuring out how much it will spend on vaccine awareness. But he said it will be a “multi-million dollar” commitment that includes donating airtime throughout this year to the nonprofit Ad Council and COVID Collaborative COVID-19 Vaccine Education Initiative.
Budweiser will still have a commercial presence around the big game. Starting Monday, the brand will air an announcement celebrating resistance during the pandemic, including a social distance birthday parade and athletes wearing Black Lives Matter T-shirts. The ad, narrated by actress and director Rashida Jones, ends with vaccination of health workers and talks about Budweiser’s donation.
In the age of social media and digital advertising, brands don’t just post ads during an event, as consumers can watch them online, from Facebook and Twitter to YouTube, Budweiser’s Rustgi said . Budweiser’s Super Bowl setback won’t be long-term either, he said.
“The Super Bowl is the most popular sporting event, apart from the World Cup, which everyone will be able to see,” added Argenti from Dartmouth. “An event that attracts a lot of people to advertising will never go away.”
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Durbin reported from Detroit.