Boston Beer Company’s “Your Cousin From Boston” ad campaign is entering the Super Bowl LVI ad conversation once again with a regional ad buy in 13 markets.
The Bostonian cousin returns to promote the national rollout of the new Samuel Adams Wicked IPA “Party Pack,” featuring Wicked Hazy (6.8% ABV), Wicked Easy (4.7% ABV), Wicked Double (8.3% AB) and the newly released, variety-pack exclusive Wicked Tropical (6% ABV with notes of papaya and coconut). And he won’t be alone during gameday on February 13.
The cousin will be joined by Boston Dynamics’ dancing robots, which will be pouring “the perfect pint of Wicked,” the company shared. The ad will run in Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Knoxville, Miami-Ft.Lauderdale, Myrtle Beach, Nashville, New York, Orlando, and Buffalo. It’s unclear which quarter the ad will run during the game.
This year’s ad was created by Goodby Silverstein & Partners, which led creative on the 2021 Super Bowl ad. Aaron Stoller directed, and the spot was filmed at Boston Dynamics – a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) spin-off known for its mobile robotics.
Boston Beer’s 2022 Super Bowl investment is around $2.6 million across linear TV, streaming, digital and social. That’s up from around $2.5 million in 2021. The 2022 investment reflects 15% of the brand’s total media investment for the year, a spokesperson shared.
The teaser for the ad will begin airing the week of February 7, with the full 30-second spot rotating in after the game.
The spot will also stream nationally during the pre-game, plus in-game during the NFL Playoffs via Verizon and Yahoo, digital video on YouTube and other partners, and social via Twitter, Facebook/Instagram, and Reddit.
Last year, Boston Beer played a game of misdirection with viewers, leading them to believe they were seeing the near-annual Budweiser clydesdales ad, and instead offering them chaos when the cousin removes the pin securing the horses’ reins to the cart behind them and sets them free.
The selection of the Wicked IPA brand for the Super Bowl spot is the company’s continued focus on reaching younger legal-drinking-age consumers. The company, citing a Numerator Panel through July 25, 2021, said two-thirds of Wicked consumers in 2021 were new to the brand.
Following its launch in 2021, Wicked posted a 51% increase in sales compared to its predecessor, New England IPA, the company said, citing market research firm IRI’s off-premise multi-outlet and convenience store data for the 13-week period ending June 13, 2021.
Off-premise dollar sales of Wicked Hazy increased nearly +43%, to $13.9 million, for the 52-week period ending January 15, 2022, in NielsenIQ tracked channels (total US xAOC + liquor plus convenience), Bump Williams Consulting (BWC) shared. Wicked Hazy ranked as the No. 4 Hazy IPA, the No. 18 craft growth brand, and the No. 5 brand in the Samuel Adams family during that period.
Meanwhile, Wicked Easy ranked as the No. 6 brand in the Samuel Adams family, with $10.6 million in off-premise sales (-6%), during that same period, BWC shared. Wicked Double ranked as the No. 19 new craft brand, with $840,000 in off-premise sales, the firm added.
Anheuser-Busch Announces Super Bowl Ad Lineup
This year’s Super Bowl commercial breaks will once again be dominated by Anheuser-Busch InBev. The world’s largest beer manufacturer will feature its portfolio of beer and beyond beer offerings during the Super Bowl broadcast nationally with four minutes of ad time, as well as in regional ad buys and on digital channels.
Featured brands within the national broadcast will include: Bud Light Next, Bud Light Seltzer Hard Soda, Budweiser, Cutwater Spirits, Michelob Ultra and Michelob Ultra Organic Seltzer.
“As we look to this year’s Super Bowl, we are excited to illustrate how Anheuser-Busch is accelerating its transformation and further adapting to today’s consumers,” Benoit Garbe, A-B’s chief marketing officer, said in the release. “For this year’s game, our brands will deliver content that is authentic to their purpose and centered on consumer truths – whether that be through creative that reminds viewers to find joy or content that celebrates the resilience of the American spirit. Now more than ever we believe viewers want to hear about hope, positivity, and possibility, and we’re going to deliver on those themes.”
A-B offered teasers for each national ad spot, which it said “kicks off a larger 360 marketing campaign, integrated across commercial and retail channels.”
A-B offered teasers for each national ad:
- Bud Light Next: The ad for the newly launched zero-crab, 80-calorie, 4% ABV Bud Light line extension “will demonstrate what’s possible when there’s zero in the way.”
- Bud Light Seltzer Hard Soda: The new seltzer line featuring classic soda flavors “will take place in a magical land full of flavor.”
- Budweiser: The classic beer brand returns “with a message that recognizes American resilience.”
- Cutwater Spirits: The first national TV ad for the spirits-based canned cocktail brand “celebrates the everyday ingenuity of those who work smarter, not harder — particularly when it comes to enjoying their favorite cocktail.”
- Michelob Ultra: The super premium brand “is doubling down on joy and bringing together legendary athletes for some friendly competition on a level playing field.”
- Michelob Ultra Organic Seltzer: The USDA-certified organic hard seltzer’s spot builds on the brand family’s “themes of active enjoyment.”
Speaking to AdAge, Garbe added that the company “will have a take on NFTs during [the] Super Bowl,” but did not elaborate. AdAge noted that A-B’s Bud Light brand recently changed its Twitter avatar to a pixelated beer mug wearing glasses, leading to speculation that it could be part of a Super Bowl-related NFT.
A-B is also investing in regional ads for Busch Light and Michelob Ultra Pure Gold. Busch Light’s ads will run in 41 markets, including Nashville, St. Louis and Milwaukee. Meanwhile, the Pure Gold ads will run in 10 markets in Florida and Texas.
Stella Artois will be featured during the Super Bowl pre-game, as well as the regional broadcast, with ads running in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami. Those ads will be centered around Stella’s “Life Artois” campaign and “build on its support of restaurant and bar industry workers.”
A-B noted that its ads will reflect “the diversity of its consumers” and “feature diverse representation, both in front of and behind the camera.”
Meanwhile, Molson Coors’s Miller Lite brand took to Twitter last week to tease running “the first big game ad” in the Metaverse.
On that sacred Sunday in February, the first big game ad will air in the Metaverse. More info coming soon. pic.twitter.com/qXZ6Kv9Yqs
— Miller Lite (@MillerLite) January 20, 2022
AdAge reported that the Metaverse bar in Decentraland will be the only place to see the Miller Lite ad.