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The “king of beers” will not reign over the Super Bowl 2021 retail space this year.
Budweiser is the latest company to withdraw from advertising on this year’s airing, choosing instead 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-stealing ads, Anheuser-Busch, owner of Budweiser, said on Monday.
“Like everyone else, we can’t wait to bring people together, reopen restaurants and bars, and be able to come together to cheer with friends and family,” said Monica Rustgi, vice president of marketing at Budweiser. “To do this, and to bring consumers back to neighborhood bars and restaurants that have been particularly affected by the pandemic, we are intervening to support critical awareness of the COVID-19 vaccine.”
The thirty-second commercials for the Super Bowl would cost around $ 55 million each. Budweiser will instead funnel some of that money to the Advertising Council’s efforts to raise awareness of the vaccine, as well as a 90-second COVID-themed “movie” titled “Bigger Picture” narrated by actress Rashida Jones. It will air digitally ahead of the Super Bowl, which airs February 7, 2021 on CBS.
Other Super Bowl business giants such as Pepsi, Coke and Hyundai will also step back from this year’s game, reallocating their funds in light of the pandemic. Pepsi, for example, will focus primarily on its halftime show, headlined by The Weeknd.
“Instead of buying a traditional 30-second Super Bowl in-game commercial, we’ve decided to double the 12 minutes that Pepsi already has in the middle of the game – the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show,” the vice president said. of Marketing Todd Kaplan. in a report.
Coca-Cola executives have said they will not run ads on this year’s show to “ensure that we are investing in the right resources in these unprecedented times.”
Many others are struggling to figure out how to set the right tone amid the devastation caused by the virus.
“There is apprehension surrounding the Super Bowl advertising this year,” Bill Oberlander, co-founder and creative director of the Oberlander ad agency, recently told The Post. “For the Super Bowl, you usually go big or go home. I think brands are coming home rather than spending tens of millions of dollars and not doing it right. They say, ‘Let’s wait until this shit storm clears.’ “
In recent years, Budweiser’s Super Bowl commercials have stolen the show, with commercials featuring singing frogs and majestic Clydesdales. Last year, their crowd-favorite commercial challenged stereotypes of a “typical American” by showcasing the extraordinary actions of ordinary Americans.
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