Anheuser-Busch Will Again Use Super Bowl Spot To Introduce New Beer Brand

Anheuser-Busch InBev for the second consecutive year “will serve up a new brew to Super Bowl viewers,” as the company will “tout its just-out Budweiser Black Crown brand" during CBS' Feb. 3 Super Bowl XLVII telecast, according to Laura Petrecca of USA TODAY. The new beer will be "on sale nationwide by Jan. 21.” A-B last year during the Super Bowl “introduced another brand," Bud Light Platinum. Budweiser VP Rob McCarthy said, "The Super Bowl really is the ideal venue to launch something new." A-B hopes to “cater to variety-seeking Millennials with the new beer.” In one of the Black Crown spots, a brewmaster “salutes a group of American beer drinkers seated at a table and also toasts the Black Crown brand.” The new brand may get “more than one game ad," as A-B shot "two 30-second commercials with the same theme, but executives still are deciding whether to air one or two Black Crown ads in the game.” The company “still is determining the total ad time it will have in the game and the final lineup of other brands that it will promote” (USA TODAY, 1/8).

DRIVER EDUCATION: USA TODAY’s Bruce Horovitz notes in the Lincoln brand's “first-ever Super Bowl spot, the five crowd-sourced tweets -- garnered by social media-savvy comedian Jimmy Fallon -- will showcase ultra-wacky road-trip experiences.” For the Lincoln division of Ford Motor Co., it is a “high-stakes effort to redo its image and appeal to a new generation of buyers.” Experts have “mixed opinions on the concept for the spot, which will be filmed later this week on the West Coast.” The five tweets were “selected from among some 6,117 solicited by Fallon.” Lincoln Global Marketing Dir Matt VanDyke said, "Our approach was, if we're going to be social, we need creativity.” Ad agency Hudson Rouge Chief Creative Officer Jon Pearce said the theme is "an unexpected story from an unexpected automobile." Horovitz notes the ad will “highlight the redesigned 2013 Lincoln MKZ midsize sedan.” VanDyke said that the hope is to “lower the brand's average buyer age from the current 65 to 55 years” (USA TODAY, 1/8).

THE JOY OF COLA: AD AGE’s Natalie Zmuda reported Pepsi “plans to use half of the 60 seconds it's bought in the game to introduce the halftime show,” headlined by its global brand ambassador, Beyoncé. In a “twist, the creative will incorporate photos of consumers that Pepsi will solicit via ads before the Super Bowl.” The remaining ad time “will be used to promote Pepsi Next.” The initiative for the brand will “ask consumers to send photos of themselves doing specific movements, such as shouting, head bopping and feet tapping.” PepsiCo VP/Consumer Engagement Adam Harter said that the requests “will roll out through mid-January, giving consumers a reason to stay engaged.” Pepsi U.S. Portfolio VP/Marketing Angelique Krembs “believes the unique approach to Super Bowl ad time -- the brand worked closely with the NFL and CBS -- creates a dialogue and helps the brand's multimillion-dollar outlay work harder.” Pepsi in the days leading up to the game “will notify the consumers whose photos will appear in the spot.” Krembs said, "That will create a lot of talk value and pass-along" (ADAGE.com, 1/6).

GOING OUT WITH A BANG: Toyota will feature CBS' “The Big Bang Theory” actress Kaley Cuoco in its Super Bowl XLVII commercial, touting a chance to “Get In The Big Game.” Fans until Saturday can submit photos of themselves to Instagram or Twitter with the hashtag #wishgranted. One photo will be selected and placed in the reveal of the commercial during the first quarter of CBS’ broadcast (Toyota).