A guide to AB’s Super Bowl ads

Remember the days when every Super Bowl ad was a surprise? Now, it seems advertisers are choosing to eliminate much of that little joy.

“You won’t believe how funny/cool/talked-about our SuperBowl ads are gonna be!”

A good case in point: Anheuser-Busch’s recent press releases and interviews hyping their SuperBowl XLIX ads in advance. They gush with so many details that finally seeing the real commercials could be a letdown. Worse, all the advance hype could be counter-productive. “I thought this ad was going to be better” is not really the reaction an advertiser wants from their audience.

A-B’s SuperBowl XLIX ads

Regardless, America’s biggest brewer is taking the wraps off its ads and vigorously pounding its corporate chest three weeks before the big game. One of their marketing guys is quoted as saying the company’s SuperBowl effort will be “maniacally focused.” As if to stay with the maniacs-r-us theme, other insiders promise A-B’s ads will be “truly disruptive” and “like nothing we’ve ever done before.”

A-B’s spending $30 million or more for three-and-a-half minutes of SuperBowl ads

If A-B’s out to get people to react before the ads run, we are happy to oblige. Below, their released specifics (as reported by Beer Marketers Insights) are in italics; our reactions in red.

As part of its hype, Budweiser released this shot from a SuperBowl commercial featuring a puppy… just like last year’s ad.

– Budweiser will run a commercial entitled “Lost Dog” in which the Clydesdales help locate said hound. New dog, same result. Oohs and ahhs didn’t sell any beer last year… and they won’t again.

– Bud Light will run a commercial called “Coin” focusing on the wacky fun of a life-sized Pac-Man game in a bar. Apparently inspired by Bud Light’s new labels featuring suggestions for spontaneous fun (Don’t ask how that makes it spontaneous), expect more of what used to be called “faux-fun,” a feature of many a generic beer ad campaign. That A-B plans to use this “content” across social media won’t alter its generic lack of effectiveness.

– Budweiser will break a new quality-of-the-beer campaign which “captures the Zeitgeist of the country.” Ignoring the over-the-top ZeitHype, we hold out hope that this ad will provide the real, competitively powerful distinction the long-ailing King of Beers needs to regain drinkers. Could this be when the recently teased “America’s smoothest lager” line gets teeth? Fingers crossed here.

– Bud Light will promote its “House of Whatever” three-day beer bash in Phoenix. More faux-fun, and a chance to be part of it in Phoenix, in case you weren’t chosen to party in Crested Butte. No matter, you’re never gonna win.

So, there you have our prediction: A low-point-total mix of faux-fun and a missing dog.

But with any luck, a surprise Hail Mary for Budweiser may score some real beer-business excitement.

See you here after the game.

To read more of Hey Beer Dan’s articles please visit his website: http://www.plzdontletbuddie.com