Budweiser might just be the quintessential Super Bowl advertiser. Without fail, every year, the brand is one of the marquee attractions to America’s annual advertising sweepstakes. From the frogs to Wassup to adorable dogs, the brewer’s work is regularly among the most popular of the big game. Also, football and beer ads go together like watching football and drinking beer.
This year, one of the brand’s Super Bowl commercials (created by agency David Miami) combines familiar characteristics–dog, Clydesdales, insanely pricey soundtrack (Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind”)–but with a twist.
Your eyes aren’t lying: This is an ad touting renewable wind energy.
Before anyone goes and accuses Bud of jumping on the cause-marketing bandwagon next to Gillette, the spot actually highlights initiatives the brand and its parent AB InBev have been chasing for a while. Last year, Budweiser unveiled its “100% Renewable Energy” symbol for products created from renewable resources, and the brand’s vice president of global marketing Brian Perkins was in Davos to talk with NGOs, other corporations, and scientists about how to spread the symbol beyond Budweiser.
In March 2017, AB InBev announced plans to have every single bottle of beer across all its brands brewed with 100% renewable energy by 2025, and Bud was the first to hit that mark in the U.S. To reach the global parent company’s overall sustainability goals, which revolve around smart agriculture, water stewardship, packaging, and climate, the company started a tech accelerator in New York to enlist scientists, technologists, startups, and entrepreneurs from around the world to help build and scale potential solutions. And it’s offering to pay for a month’s worth of renewable energy for anyone in America ready to make the switch.
So while the current administration is busy denying climate change and doubling down on fossil fuels, the beer called “America” is investing in everything from capital to Super Bowl ad time to illustrate how sustainability is good for business and the planet.
