With two weeks left until Super Bowl LVI, big beer brands have continued to tease advertisement spots for the big game.
Boston Beer Company released a 15-second teaser Monday for a regional ad featuring Samuel Adams’ new variety 12-pack, the Wicked IPA Party Pack. The video stars “Your Cousin From Boston” working as a security guard for Boston Dynamics – a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) spin-off known for its mobile robotics. In the clip, one of the company’s four-legged robots fetches the cousin a beer.
Boston Beer announced the Samuel Adams ad buy last week, which will run in Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Knoxville, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Myrtle Beach, Nashville, New York, Orlando and Buffalo. The company will invest $2.6 million across linear TV, streaming, digital and social for this year’s Super Bowl – about 15% of the brand’s total media investment for the year, a spokesperson told Brewbound.
Anheuser-Busch Gives Peek at Michelob Ultra and Budweiser Ads
Anheuser-Busch In-Bev (A-B) released several advertising clips over the weekend.
During the AFC Championship game, the company released three teasers for its Michelob Ultra feature. Set at Superior Bowl bowling alley, the teasers featured former Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning getting ready to show off his bowl skills, and actor Steve Buscemi working behind the counter, spraying bowling shoes and setting up Michelob Ultra glasses (a possible nod to Buscemi’s role in The Big Lebowski, a film that also centered around a bowling alley).
Manning and Buscemi are just two of the spot’s seven guest stars, according to Ad Week. One of the yet-to-be revealed stars will be another athlete, joining Peyton for “some friendly competition on a level playing field,” according to a press release.
And it appears that Budweiser Clydesdales are returning to the broadcast. A-B released a 10-second teaser last week zoomed-in on a Clydesdale horse’s hooves as it runs, with the text “We’re Back, 2.13.2022.”
The Budweiser Clydesdales appeared annually during the Super Bowl for more than 37 years, but were missing from the 2021 broadcast after A-B reallocated its media investment to raise awareness about the COVID-19 vaccine, in partnership with the Ad Council.
Five other A-B brands will be featured during the national broadcast: Bud Light Next, Bud Light Seltzer Hard Soda, Cutwater Spirits and Michelob Ultra Organic Seltzer.
A-B also released two versions of a new Busch Light “Voice of The Mountains” regional campaign Monday, featuring Grammy Award-winning saxophonist Kenny G.
Airing in 21 Midwest markets – including Nashville, St. Louis and Milwaukee – the ad features two men in the wilderness as they’re serenaded by people in the mountains with the original “Head for the Mountains” Busch Light jingle.
“Whenever you crack open a Busch Light, the mountains start singing,” one of the men says before the singing begins.
“Giant Kenny G” joins, playing his saxophone and towering over the “Mountains of Busch Beer” – a nod to Busch Light’s mountain packaging.
The 56th annual Super Bowl will take place at SoFI stadium in Los Angeles on February 13, broadcasted on NBC. Following Sunday’s conference championship results, the game will feature the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals.
Wells Fargo: Super Bowl Party Costs Could Increase 14% This Year
Stocking up for a Super Bowl party will cost consumers between 8% to 14% more than 2021, as food and alcohol prices have continued to rise following the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Wells Fargo in its inaugural “Super Bowl Food Report.”
Alcohol has some of the smallest price increases across the board compared to most go-to party supplies, giving some relief to consumers, according to the report, citing the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Beer prices increased +4% year-over-year (YOY) in 2021 through December, while wine prices increased +3%, according to the BLS.
The 4% increase is small compared to up to 26% price increases for staples such as chicken wings ( +14% YOY for bone-in, +26% for boneless), hamburgers (+17%), and soft drinks (+6% for two-liter bottles, +12% for 6-pack cans). Many beer brands have been able to avoid price increases until now, but continued supply chain constraints and increased input costs may change that in 2022.
Brewers Association chief economist Bart Watson discussed the potential for price increases in 2020 on the Brewbound podcast last week.