With 4 Minutes of National Airtime, Anheuser-Busch Will Showcase 6 Brands During Super Bowl 2021

This year's Super Bowl, like everything else during a deadly pandemic, is going to look a bit different than it would on a normal year. Anheuser-Busch, which has had exclusive rights to beer advertising during the Big Game since 1975, plans to address that head-on during its four minutes of national airtime during the 2021 game. For starters, its iconic American beer brand Budweiser is sitting this one out for the first time in 37 years. The ad budget will be reallocated toward Covid-19 vaccine awareness and education, Anheuser-Busch announced today. But the brands that will make a national appearance this year—Bud Light, Bud Light Seltzer Lemonade, Michelob Ultra and Michelob Ultra Organic Seltzer—will also acknowledge the current crises facing Americans while staying true to the tone and identity of each brand. In addition to the branded spots, Anheuser-Busch will also run a corporate spot in the game for the first time. Stella Artois and ready-to-drink cocktail brand Cutwater Spirits will advertise regionally during the broadcast. Doubling down on the lessons learned in 2020 "We're going to focus a lot on purpose with our brands," said Marcel Marcondes, U.S. chief marketing officer for Anheuser-Busch. "It's all about humanity." The strategy was born out of the lessons that Anheuser-Busch has learned during the pandemic, Marcondes said. Throughout the last year, the company has worked harder to be sensitive to the constantly shifting needs of consumers and center its efforts to support fans and communities. "We do not want to go back to normal," Marcondes said. "We want to get better." To apply that philosophy to the Super Bowl, Marcondes said that any language to do with rankings or "winning" the game this year was deleted from the briefs, instead stressing the importance of meaning and connection. The company's aim was to bring a human-centric focus to each component of its Big Game participation—down to the way the it announced its ad plan to the press. Rather than a virtual press conference, reporters received personalized letters from Marcondes and a one-on-one chat to follow up on the announcement. With Anheuser-Busch's corporate spot, created by Wieden+Kennedy and 3PM, Marcondes said the goal is to "reset" the brand's message as a leader in the alcoholic beverage category and redefine its role in people's lives. "When you say 'let's have a beer,'" Marcondes explained, "there's something meaningful happening. Like we need to have a chat, or I need to tell you something awesome, or I miss you." "Beer is always connected to meaningful moments," he added. "We bring people together." Each brand's unique execution of Anheuser-Busch's strategy Nostalgia, an ad trend that only grew during the pandemic, will be central to Bud Light's Super Bowl spot, Marcondes said. As part of the build up, the brand launched a website featuring famous Bud Light ads from the past, encouraging fans to share their favorites on social media. The Super Bowl ad will also mark the beginning of a new brand loyalty program. There'll also be a spot dedicated to Bud Light Seltzer Lemonade, a new product that the brand launched this month. Playing on the old "when life gives you lemons" saying, the brand is positioning itself as one positive thing that came out of 2020, Marcondes said. Michelob Ultra, a brand that "stands for health and wellness," will run a spot starring several world-class athletes and urging reflection on where our priorities lie, especially given "everything that is going on in the world," Marcondes said. "You do not need to compromise—you can work out, you can be fit and you can have a beer with your friends." Anheuser-Busch worked with Wieden+Kennedy on the Super Bowl campaigns for Michelob Ultra, Bud Light and Bud Light Seltzer Lemonade. The brand will also run a spot advertising its new Michelob Ultra Organic Seltzer, created by agency FCB, but details are still under wraps. The exact breakdown of the four minutes of national broadcast airtime between the five different ads is still being finalized, Marcondes said. Stella Artois's regional Super Bowl ad, created by agency Mother London, will focus on prioritizing the immaterial joys of life over material things, Marcondes said. Canned cocktail brand Cutwater Spirits, a recent Anheuser-Busch acquisition and part of a category that saw huge growth throughout the pandemic, will get a bigger stage for the first time in its regional spot, which was created by agency draftLine. Super Bowl LV Ad Tracker: All About the 2021 Commercials For all the latest Super Bowl advertising news—who’s in, who’s out, teasers, full ads and more—check out Adweek’s Super Bowl 2021 Ad Tracker and the rest of our stories about the Big Game. And join us on the evening of Feb. 7 for the best in-game coverage of the commercials anywhere.