The puppies from Budweiser's recent Super Bowl ads "are sitting out" February's game and "might never come back," according to E.J. Schultz of AD AGE. The puppies "apparently don't sell beer," so A-B InBev "will deploy a more product-focused approach" for February's game. The Clydesdales, which "mingled with the puppies" in the ads during each of the past two Super Bowls, "are coming back." Budweiser's two Super Bowl puppy ads were by AOR Anomaly, and "garnered plenty of social media buzz." In a story published in advance of the '15 Super Bowl, Ad Age "declared Bud the pre-game victor after the 'Lost Dog' ad -- which was released before the game -- drew nearly 31 million views." The "Brewed the Hard Way" ad, which was not released before the game, "took a hard-hitting approach that proudly declared the nation's third-largest beer as a 'macro' brew." The spot "generated plenty of buzz on its own -- especially within the beer world -- for taking shots at fruity micro brews and beer geeks" (ADAGE.com, 11/16). A-B InBev VP/U.S. Marketing Jorn Socquet said of the puppy ads, "They have zero impact on beer sales. Those ads I wouldn’t air again because they don’t sell beer" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 11/12).
