After a year filled with controversy over advertising and influencers, Bud Light is responding to criticism with the company’s Super Bowl LVIII commercial.
The minute-long ad features a character called the Bud Light Genie popping out of a Bud Light bottle into an unsuspecting fan’s refrigerator.
The Genie then begins granting a group of friends’ every wish, from a new car to more muscular arms, and features cameo appearances from former NFL star Peyton Manning, rapper Post Malone and UFC’s Dana White.
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The spot, which will air Sunday during the Big Game, is part of the company’s ongoing “Easy to Drink – Easy to Enjoy” campaign that launched during last year’s Super Bowl with an ad featuring actor Miles Teller .
“We wanted to get back to the humor that the brand is known for,” said Bud Light Vice President Todd Allen. CNN. “Consumers expect us to bring back some lightheartedness and irreverence, so we listened and that’s what we’re bringing forward.”
Bud Light sales plummeted in 2023 after a controversial social media partnership with transgender TikTok activist Dylan Mulvaney, leading to a boycott of the brand initiated by singer Kid Rock in April 2023 in which he posted a video of him who shoots multiple Bud Light cans in protest on social media. The singer called for an end to the boycott in December.
The controversy led to the The CMO of Anheuser-Busch (parent company of Bud Light) in the United States, Benoit Garbe, will step down at the end of 2023.
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The company has made a concerted effort to return to its roots and core customers, partnering with celebrities like Post Malone, who has been involved with the brand in several campaigns and promotions.
“We wanted to invite longtime friends of the brand to join us for the journey, and they are all aligned with the passion and platforms that our fans know and love from Bud Light and have come to expect from us,” Allen told the Hollywood reporter.
The beer brand will also host a series of programs in Las Vegas, where Super Bowl LVIII is taking place, including an acoustic concert featuring country star Zach Bryan and an interactive takeover of the city’s newest immersive venue, The Sphere, which it’s meant to make the viewer feel like they’re inside a Bud Light bottle.
Although Anheuser-Busch reported a 5% increase in global revenue to $15.57 billion in the third quarter of 2023, the company noted that U.S. business and sales were impacted by the continued negative backlash from Bud Light as US-specific revenue declined 13.5% quarter-over-quarter.
Anheuser-Busch is expected to report fourth-quarter 2023 earnings on February 29.