BUD LIGHT
A-B InBev "plans four minutes of commercials" during Super Bowl LIV on Fox next month, including a "single 60-second ad that will promote both Bud Light and the new Bud Light Seltzer," according to Nat Ives of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. The company's overall Super Bowl buy this year is "in line with its traditional levels, but a reversal of its surge last year, when it ran more than five minutes of commercials." That was "likely the largest buy in the company's decades of advertising during the game." In addition to the combo ad for Bud Light and Bud Light Seltzer, A-B InBev said that it "will run three other minute-long commercials, one each to promote Budweiser, Michelob Ultra and Michelob Ultra Pure Gold." A-B InBev U.S. CMO Marcel Marcondes "declined to detail the creative approaches in the ads but said the Budweiser commercial will champion the American spirit as well as feature a new label and packaging." The Bud Light spot "will be lighthearted, as usual for the brand." Marcondes said that the Michelob Ultra ad "will evoke health and wellness" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/9). ADWEEK's Ann-Marie Alcantara noted it is still "unclear in which quarters each ad will air." A-B InBev "worked with a number of agencies" for its Super Bowl lineup: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, for its Bud Light spot, FCB Chicago for Michelob Ultra and Michelob, and David Miami for Budweiser (ADWEEK.com, 1/8).
OTHER PLANS: AD AGE's Jeanine Poggi noted outside of '19, A-B InBev "aired three-and-a-half minutes in each of the three prior Super Bowls." While it is a "smaller buy for the Bud Light brand than last year, the company is also producing a one-hour special that will air on Fox the night before the Super Bowl featuring performances from the Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest taking place in Miami." Meanwhile, Stella Artois, which was featured in Super Bowl LIII with a spot starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Jeff Bridges, "will not have a Super Bowl ad." Instead, A-B InBev will "create digital activations and feature the brand at a European-inspired event in Miami during Super Bowl weekend" (ADAGE.com, 1/8).
