The “king of beers” will not rule the 2021 Super Bowl commercial space this year.
Budweiser is the latest company to pull out of advertising during this year’s airing and choose to participate in an awareness campaign for the COVID-19 vaccine.
For the first time in 37 years, the company will not air its game-stealing commercials, Anheuser-Busch, owner of Budweiser, announced Monday.
“Like everyone else, we want to get people back together, reopen restaurants and bars, and cheer together with friends and family,” said Monica Rustgi, vice president of marketing at Budweiser. “To do this, and to bring consumers back to nearby bars and restaurants that have been hit exceptionally hard by the pandemic, we are helping to raise awareness of the COVID-19 vaccine.”
Thirty-second ad spots for the Super Bowl reportedly go for about $ 55 million each. Budweiser will instead spend some of that money on the Ad Council’s efforts to raise public awareness about the vaccine, as well as a 90-second COVID movie called “Bigger Picture,” narrated by actress Rashida Jones. It will be broadcast digitally leading up to the Super Bowl, which will air on February 7, 2021 on CBS.
Other commercial giants of the Super Bowl like Pepsi, Coke and Hyundai will also step back from this year’s game and reallocate their funds in the face of the pandemic. For example, Pepsi will mainly focus on the halftime show, headlined by The Weeknd.
“Rather than buying a traditional 30-second Super Bowl ad in-game, we decided to double the 12 minutes Pepsi already has in the middle of the game – the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show,” said vice President of Marketing Todd Kaplan. in a statement.
Coca-Cola executives said they will not be posting ads in this year’s broadcast to “ensure we invest in the right resources in these unprecedented times.”
Many others are struggling to figure out how to strike the right note amid the havoc caused by the virus.
“There is concern about Super Bowl ads this year,” Bill Oberlander, co-founder and executive creative of ad agency Oberlander recently told The Post. “You usually go big or go home for the Super Bowl. I think brands are going home instead of spending tens of millions of dollars and not doing it right. They say, “Let’s wait for this storm to lift.” ”
In recent years, Budweiser’s Super Bowl commercials have stolen the show, with ads featuring singing frogs and stately Clydesdales. Last year, their popular ad challenged the stereotypes of a “typical American” by showing the extraordinary actions of ordinary Americans.