This year, the “king of beers” will not rule over the commercial space of the 2021 Super Bowl.
Budweiser is the latest corporation to go out of publicity during this year’s broadcast and has opted to join a public awareness campaign for the COVID-19 vaccine.
For the first time in 37 years, the company will not run its game theft ads, Anheuser-Busch, owner of Budweiser, announced Monday.
“Like everyone else, we look forward to bringing people back together, reopening restaurants and bars and being able to get together with friends and family,” said Monica Rustgi, Budweiser’s vice president of marketing. “To do so, and to bring consumers back to the neighborhood bars and restaurants that were exceptionally affected by the pandemic, we stepped in to support the critical awareness of the COVID-19 vaccine.”
According to reports, thirty-two advertising sites for the Super Bowl cost about $ 55 million per piece. Instead, Budweiser will spend some of that money on the Ad Council’s efforts to raise awareness about the vaccine, as well as a 90-second COVID-themed “movie” called “Bigger Picture” narrated by actress Rashida Jones. It will be broadcast digitally until the Super Bowl, which airs on February 7, 2021 on CBS.
Other Super Bowl commercial giants, such as Pepsi, Coke and Hyundai, will also take a step back from this year’s game, reallocating their funds in light of the pandemic. Pepsi, for example, will focus primarily on its show in the middle, led by The Weeknd.
“Instead of buying a traditional Super Bowl ad in the 30-second game, we decided to double the 12 minutes Pepsi already has in the middle of the game: the Pepsi Super Bowl Half-Time Show,” said Vice President of Marketing Todd Kaplan in a statement.
Coca-Cola executives said they will not post ads on this year’s issue to “ensure we invest in the right resources during these unprecedented times”.
Many others struggle to figure out how to set the right tone in the midst of the devastation caused by the virus.
“There’s concern about Super Bowl advertising this year,” Bill Oberlander, co-founder and executive creator of the Oberlander advertising agency, told The Post recently. “For the Super Bowl, you’re usually going to grow up or go home. I think brands go home instead of spending tens of millions of dollars and not doing it right. They are saying, ‘Let’s wait until this storm is over.’ ”
In recent years, advertisements for Budweiser’s Super Bowl have stolen the show, with ads featuring singing frogs and stately Clydesdales. Last year, his crowd-pleasing ad challenged the stereotypes of a “typical American” by showing the extraordinary actions of ordinary Americans.