Manning beer comment worth $13m

The value of Peyton Manning’s reference to Budweiser after the Super Bowl was estimated to be worth US$13.9m.

After his victory in Super Bowl 50 last Sunday, Denver Broncos quarterback Manning mentioned to CBS reporter Tracy Wolfson that he planned to “drink a lot of Budweiser tonight”. He mentioned the brand again during his presser.

Budweiser’s head of marketing, Lisa Weser, was quick to take to Twitter and point out that Manning had not been paid for the mention.

Nonetheless, Beer Business Daily pointed out that Manning owns a stake in a Budweiser distributor in his home state of Louisiana.

By Monday morning the two fairly innocuous comments were judged to have generated over $13m worth of advertising as judged by the continued reaction on social media, online, TV and radio.

Nor is this the first time Manning has thrown a casual reference to Budweiser into a post-game comment.

After a 2014 AFC playoff game against the San Diego Chargers he said he was going to have a Bud Light. The remark led to a Colorado craft brewer, Left Hand Brewing, sending him a case of its beer to encourage him to drink something else.

True to form, Left Hand took Manning’s most recent Budweiser comments to heart and on Monday and Tuesday of this week was offering a free pint of one of its beers to each customer who brought an empty Budweiser bottle or can to its taproom.

Meanwhile, the Colorado-based Brewers Association sent the quarterback a mixed case of craft brews (from a variety of states) as well as an invitation to visit a local craft brewer.