Beer is the quintessential aspect of Super Bowl Sunday.
Every year, big beer spends millions of dollars on advertising spots, in hopes that drinkers everywhere will continue to support “fizzy yellow beer.”
In 2010, the cost of a 30 second ad was $2.6 million. For the most part, AB/In-Bev controls the airwaves, splitting time between their Budweiser, Bud-Light and Stella Artois brands. Last year, Miller High-Life ran a short one-second clip as more of a rip on the amount of money that is spent each year on advertising.
2011’s selection of beer advertising was small, dominated 100 percent by AB/In-Bev. Many viewers however thought this year’s crop of ads lacked some of the comedic punch seen in years past.
Brewbound decided to rank the ads- here is how we see the top three shaking out:
1. Wild West – Budweiser. By far and away the best storyline for a 1-minute ad. The combination of Peter Stormare, known for his roles as John Abruzi in Prison Break as well as the “Russian guy” from Armageddon, and Elton John’s Tiny Dancer was marvelous. The ad was well shot, featured the signature Clydesdales, was hilarious and for our purposes, the best beer ad of the day.
2. Dog Sitter – Bud Light. The Bud Light commercials are always a hit, and almost always speak to it’s name – ‘light.’ Dog Sitter was not only funny; it did a good job of appealing to both men and women. Let’s face it; if you put cute animals doing anything in a commercial, you score automatic points from the female demographic.
3. Crying Jean – Stella Artois. Because Stella Artois is as classy as it comes for the AB/In-Bev brands, the commercial had to follow suit. It was artistically shot, featured a nice cameo from Adrien Brody, and had the typical storyline for most Stella spots- a love affair between a man and his beer. Once the beer is gone, it leaves the man heartbroken and wanting another. When the glass is refilled, the male has found love once again. The commercial loses points for not being very creative, but still was good enough for third on our list.