Budweiser is Running A'Scared...

Howdy everyone!

I guess it's been awhile since I posted anything.  So, tonight I figured after those horrible Superbowl Ads, (well, a few were good) I wanted to take a look at the Budweiser spot that seemed to attack craft beer.

So, let's start by talking about what seemed to happen....it seems that AB InBev is getting nervous about how smaller craft breweries are starting to pop up EVERYWHERE.  Craft breweries have witnessed as much as 32% growth per year. In the same time while the two heavyweights have seen their market share wither by 7-8%.  That might not be a big thing to you or I, but when any large company starts to lose market share, they get nervous.  Look at Sam Adams...they are now considered one of the big boys...and while Koch said that he would only brew what he likes...he had to drift away from that with his line of IPA's. Why?  Because that's what people want.  He was starting to lose market share because he wasn't known for making other beers people wanted, like the IPA.  Now, enter the Rebel West Coast IPA, his contribution to the market to try to get back some of what he's losing.

So, what does that mean?  It means that AB and SABMiller are getting worried.  While they are still selling A LOT of beer, it seems that the Craft Beer segment is growing while the Macro Beer is in a slight decline.

So, what does that mean?  I guess it means that we must attack that market!  We must make fun of those beer drinkers and see if we can, "Win back this Great Country!"

But, per Budweiser VP Brian Perkins, he said the intent was not to criticize competitors or craft beer in general.

Really? Because that seems to be just what you did...and what's even funnier, they own some of the very same craft breweries that they mocked in this commercial.

So, let's go and break down this commercial, shall we?  Here's the text of the ad, just so we're not lost going along with this..

"Proudly a macro beer. It's not brewed to be fussed over. It's brewed for a crisp, smooth finish. This is the only beer Beechwood aged since 1876. There's only one Budweiser. It's brewed for drinking. Not dissecting. The people who drink our beer are people who like drinking beer. To drink beer brewed the hard way. Let them sip their pumpkin peach ale. We'll be brewing us some golden suds. This is the famous Budweiser beer. This bud's for you."

The commercial starts off saying that they are Proudly a "Macro Beer."

Yea,..OK.  So what?  What are you trying to say?  That you're a big time beer??  Because they are some of the leading burger joints, right?  Highest Volume?  But I can tell you, I'd rather eat at Slaters 50/50 and pay a little more for a better burger, than a fast food joint...who's our version of the, "Macro Burger."

Next, AB says that their beers are not to be, "Fussed Over."

Really?  I wonder why?  Maybe because your beer is nasty, there's no quality, it's just brewed to be sucked down...errr...sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself.

So, what you're saying is that there's no reason to smell, taste or enjoy your beer.  That there's nothing that goes into your beer to make someone WANT to take time to drink that yellow liquid. The very stuff you call, "beer."  I just want to make sure that I have this down correctly.

But wait, you're not telling me that it's, "Beechwood Aged."  

OK, so what are you saying?  You just told me that it's not to be fussed over.  That it's brewed for a crisp, smooth finish. And now you're talking about it being aged...in beechwood?  Do you understand that the only people that would care and possibly understand what this means, are the ones that you're currently mocking??  You do, right?  So, what are you doing here?  Trying to save a little face?

Yet, in the next breath, you say that it's just brewed, "For Drinking."

What do you mean?  I'm taking that this is meant to say, "Just suck this shit down. Don't care what it tastes like, that's not our goal!  Our goal is to get you wrecked so you can scream at your favorite NASCAR driver!!!"

Oh, and make sure that you don't, "Dissect our beer."

You know, because as we can see here, only glasses wearing Hipsters like Craft beer.  And let's just make fun of a whole population of people that like craft beer that don't really fall into the, "Hipster," genera.  I mean, if you're not leaning over to your buddy and asking them to, "Hold my beer and watch this," then you don't drink Bud!  I'm guessing that the normal person isn't in their targeted demographic.

And then, don't forget that people that drink Bud want their beer brewed, "The Hard Way."

OK, like how?  Mass produced?  By giving up and being bought by a Belgian Investment group, InBev?  Hell, they don't want to go the "Easy Way,"   You know, a small start-up, busting their asses every day working 20 hours days fighting YOU for shelf space in stores.  I was talking to the people at Jack's Abby the other day, they have been running 24 hour shifts to keep up with demand.  Working every day so they can make a living doing what they love.  You know, because that's not, "The Hard Way!"  I'm guessing that's why craft beer is on the rise, as the first graphic shows, because they are doing it, "The Easy Way."

Then they tell us that we can go on and enjoy our, "pumpkin peach ale."

This is what's even funnier to me.  This one statement that this is in the commercial.  Only because a few weeks earlier, AB just bought Elysian Brewing.  I bet you can't guess what they make! They have a beer called, Gourdgia on My Mind.  And you know what that beer is??  Yep, a Pecan Peach Pumpkin Amber Ale.  So, AB is making fun of the very beer of a brewery that they just purchased.  Then they basically say, with this ad, that the brewery that they just bought are pretentious fucking hipsters.  And, while they make fun of these beers, they are also trying to break into the fruity beer market as well.  I think that we've all see their line of "Rita" beers.  SO, what's this about not being scared about Craft Beer?  What's even funnier is that when asked about his, Mr. Perkins even went as far as to say, "The only other beer that we reference in the spot is a fabricated, ludicrous flavor combination of pumpkin peach ale."  So, you're telling me that you don't even know what you own?

Keeping it Classy!

So that's what Budweiser is all about...being a'scared about the Craft Brew Revolution.  People are tied of the same old flat tasting beers.  People want something good! They want something different! They want beers that push the limits...

Isn't that Right, Mr. Perkins?  What have you to say about how you're treating the people of the breweries that you own?  Mr. Perkins said, "Occasionally we do have a little bit of fun with some of the overwrought pretentiousness that exists in some small corners of the beer landscape that is around beer snobbery. That is the antithesis of what Budweiser is all about."  That must make Elysian Brewing and Goose Island, two craft breweries that are owned by AB, feel really good about themselves.

I guess the big question is why are you buying the breweries of the same beer you're poking fun at in this spot?

I haven't been able to find an answer to that question.

So, what's really going on??  

Well, Beer Marketer’s Insights notes that Budweiser’s market share has fallen from 8.4% in 2011 to 7.6% in 2013. And while Bud Light remains the country’s most consumed beer, with an 18% market share...The only “craft” beer to make the top 20 is Blue Moon.  And to be honest, that's a MillerCoors product.

So now that AB is seeing that craft breweries are opening at an astonishing pace around the country, I think that they are starting to panic. From what I could find, between 2010 and 2013, The Brewers Association estimates 836 new microbreweries opened their doors. All totaled, there are more than 2,800 in operation today.  That's pretty impressive considering after Prohibition ended, a consolidated industry emerged. So, by 1979, there were just forty-four breweries remaining.  That's considering that in the late nineteenth century, there were thousands of breweries in the United States.

Did the Big Guys win again?  While it's taken quite a bit of time, it's looking like they haven't.

“New breweries consistently find ways to produce innovative, differentiated products,” said Brewers Association chief economist Bart Watson. “The American beer lover increasingly is demanding fuller-flavored offerings from small, independent, local producers.”

That my friends, is why Budweiser put up that commercial.  They are getting nervous.  And they should, because their beers are not innovative.  They are just hoping that the market they are trying to retain isn't smart enough to understand how they were just insulted.  

Insulted as much as they insulted Craft Beer Drinkers around the Country.

Shame, Budweiser, Shame

EDIT:

I want to thank my friend Jen for posting a link to Northern Brewer Brewing Supply Store for this little bit of a "middle finger" to Bud.

Peach of Resistance Pumpkin Peach Ale Kit

As Jen said...well played, Northern Brewer, well played.