(upbeat music)
- [Narrator] Perhaps the only thing more anticipated
on Super Bowl Sunday than the game itself.
- Puppy Monkey Baby. - He's got Smaht Pahk.
- I'm on a horse.
- [Narrator] Are the commercials.
- You can't just wear my face.
- [Narrator] And many of the most iconic commercials
are beer ads from the funny.
- How you doing. - How you doing.
- Whassup? - Whassup?
- Whassup?
- [Narrator] To the poignant.
(pensive music)
But for 33 years,
these beer ads have had one thing in common.
♪ When you say Bud, you've said it all ♪
- [Narrator] Anheuser-Busch InBev has been the only company
permitted to advertise alcohol during the Super Bowl,
thanks to an exclusivity deal with the NFL.
Budweiser took full advantage of that agreement.
And for the past two decades,
the brewer outspent all other brands
in advertising at the Super Bowl.
But this year, Budweiser is calling an audible
and giving up its grip on the event.
And that has opened the door to beer
and alcohol companies that have long been excluded
from the big game.
- Anheuser-Busch giving up their exclusivity
on that game is a huge deal.
(pensive music)
- [Narrator] Super Bowls are consistently ranked
as the most watched annual television broadcast in America.
Although ratings have declined in recent years,
last year, the big game attracted over 112 million viewers.
According to the analytics firm Kantar,
there are approximately 80 to 100 ads aired
during each Super Bowl.
That works out to a total advertising time
of about 50 minutes or roughly 30 seconds per ad.
Purchasing a commercial during the big game isn't cheap.
In 2022, each 30-second ad slot went
for as much as $6.5 million.
- I got some bad news.
- [Narrator] So after previously paying
for the privilege to keep its competitors off the field,
why is Budweiser changing course?
- Now, how is that supposed to sell beer?
- Even though Anheuser-Busch gave up their exclusive right
to be the only alcohol advertiser
in the Super Bowl doesn't mean
that Super Bowl is not impactful
from a business point of view.
Anheuser-Busch is still spending tons of money
during the game on ads, and what they've said publicly
is that they're basically gonna use some
of the money that they used on that for other things.
So when you think about Super Bowl,
it happens in the middle of February.
It's not really the prime selling season for beer.
That happens in summer.
So you could imagine that a company
like AB might save some of that money
and spend it when you know sales are really high.
- [Narrator] Although Anheuser-Busch InBev has effectively
had a monopoly on Super Bowl beer ads since 1989,
other brands have found creative ways
into the conversation surrounding the game,
such as buying ad time in local markets around the country.
- Beer brands have really had to bend over backwards to try
and steal the buzz, and they've for years depended
on these gorilla marketing campaigns
to stimulate Super Bowl buzz without actually buying ads.
And it's a fraction of the price
and you're still getting press
and you're also seen in really big markets.
- [Announcer] This is a stunt designed
to make you miss our competitors.
- One of the really successful gorilla marketing campaigns
that a rival brewer had run a couple years ago
was won by Miller Lite.
They basically ran a contest where they offered free beer
for consumers, basically saying when they see
the Michelob Ultra, ad to go
to the web and type in this extra long URL.
So basically that's stealing the traffic
that other people would've been searching
for that brand and it got 'em a lot
of publicity leading up to the game,
even though they didn't have a Super Bowl ad
in the game itself.
- [Narrator] For this year's Super Bowl,
viewers can expect to see spirit brands,
like Remy Martin and Crown Royal Whiskey.
- Peanut butter? What?
- [Narrator] Crown Royal is seizing
on the opportunity to compete.
Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters is already being featured
in a teaser designed
to elicit interest in the big game's ad spot.
- The egg carton?
- So I think the biggest beneficiary
of Anheuser-Busch's change will be Molson Coors.
The company actually is really creative
because they've learned to sort of try
and find their way to steal the buzz
and this year they've used that creativity to come
up with this huge program.
- [Narrator] After an over 30-year hiatus,
Molson Coors recently ran ads asking consumers
which of its two lite beers, Miller Lite
or Coors Lite deserves the brewer's coveted Super Bowl spot.
- They've teamed up with DraftKings,
which is really smart given how everybody
in this nation is obsessed
with sports online betting right now.
So what consumers can do is go and figure out like, oh,
I think this is what they're...
Will it be Miller?
Will it be Coors?
(playful music)
- Oh, hey.
- [Narrator] Heineken will also make an appearance
this year.
The Dutch brand is teaming up with Marvel
to promote the upcoming "Ant-Man" film
and its alcohol-free brew Heineken 0.0.
(clanging sound) (can opening)
Despite giving up its exclusivity agreement with the NFL,
Anheuser-Busch InBev brands like Bud Light
and Michelob Ultra will still
have a presence in the game on February 12th.
- [Announcer] Who drinks Budweiser.
- [Narrator] But on the national stage,
Budweiser won't be appearing.
- [Announcer] They say all people are six degrees
of separation away from each other.
- [Narrator] In regional markets,
Budweiser will run an ad that features
a Kevin Bacon voiceover with a nod to the concept
of six degrees of separation, all facilitated by a six pack.
- [Announcer] People who share the same spirit
share the same beer.
This Bud's for you.