A Lovably Ineffective Beer-Delivery Drone Stars in Budweiser’s Big World Cup Kickoff

Carrying a single beer from St. Louis to Moscow, while ideally keeping it nice and cold, would be a tough mission for a human. And apparently, it’s even a struggle for the occasional drone designed solely for the task.

That’s the premise of Budweiser’s new spot from Anomaly, kicking off the brand’s marketing campaign around its role as “the official beer of the FIFA World Cup.” The ad focuses on a swarm of drones—an increasingly common sight at stadiums thanks to the Super Bowl—dispatched to deliver beers to fans in Nigeria, England, China and eventually Russia, home of the 2018 World Cup.

One drone, however, doesn’t seem to be quite as skilled at the job as his peers. Named “Bud 1876″—yes, because that’s the year Budweiser was first brewed—the scrappy drone does his best to make up for a late start, navigating woods and mass transit alike in hopes of finding his target.

Set to the pumping tune of Apollo 440’s 1999 hit “Stop the Rock,” the ad is just one piece in a very large marketing push from parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev, which calls the campaign its largest to date. Budweiser’s World Cup ads will run in more than 50 countries and across its social media channels.

Budweiser will also be shipping more than 8 million Budweiser Red Light Cups around the world. The cups light up in response to loud noises such as cheering crowds.

“Our campaign is the largest in our company’s history, and it demonstrates how we are bringing together fans from around the world over beer and their shared passion for football,” says Miguel Patricio, CMO of Anheuser-Busch InBev, in a statement. “Our campaign captures the celebratory, upbeat and premium experience of the Budweiser brand, and fans will continue to see this come to life through our ongoing activations for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.”

CREDITS:

Campaign: “Light up the FIFA World Cup”
Spots / Creative: TVC / Digital

Client: Budweiser
Senior VP of Marketing, Global Brands: Kyle Norrington
VP of Global Marketing, Budweiser: Brian Perkins
Global Brand Director: Steve Arkley
Brand Director, Sports, Budweiser: Chris Perkins

Agency: Anomaly

Production:
Production Co.: RSA
Director: Jake Scott
Director of Photography: Dan Mindel
Executive Producer: Tracie Norfleet
Executive Producer: David Mitchell
Producer: Jason Groves
Production Supervisor: Eric Stafford

Editorial:
Editorial Company: Saints Editorial
Editor: Ross Birchall
Associate Editor: Nancy Gidman-LaTorraca
Executive Producer: Stephanie Hickman
Executive Producer: Sara Windrim

Color:
Color Company: Company 3
Colorist: Tim Masick

Postproduction:
VFX Company: Blacksmith
VFX/CG Supervisor: Tom Bussell
VFX Supervisor / 2D Lead: Iwan Zwarts
Executive Producer: Charlotte Arnold
VFX Producer: Bindy St. Leger
CG Generalist: Olivier Varteressian, Tuna Unalan, Hassan Taimur
CG Animator: Henning Ko, Sam Crees, Carlos Sandoval
FX Artist: Rick Walia
Compositor: Jacob Slutsky, Nick Tanner, Aaron Baker, Jay Lee
Designer / CG Generalist: Rob Petrie
Designer / AE Animator: Bryan Coleman

David Griner

@griner

David Griner is creative and innovation editor for Adweek. He's been covering agencies, creativity, technology and marketing innovation for more than a decade and is host of Adweek's podcast.