Bud Sidelines Clydesdales in Super Bowl Ad, Ending 17-Year Streak
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Budweiser’s famous Clydesdales will sit out the Super Bowl this year for the first time since 2001. The horses are getting the heave-ho in favor of a 60-second Bud-branded spot that touts Anheuser-Busch InBev’s philanthropic water giveaway program. The canned water donation initiative is activated in the wake of natural disasters, like the hurricanes that ravaged Texas and Puerto Rico last year.
The Clydesdales will not totally be stuck in the barn, however. The brewer says they will be featured in a video that will debut next week on digital. Still, by sidelining the steeds, AB InBev risks backlash from viewers that have come to expect them to at least make cameos, if not take a starring role, on advertising’s biggest stage.
AB InBev executives are banking on the digital film, which will be promoted on social media, to satisfy Clydesdale loyalists. “We have a lot of fans that are asking for the Clydesdales in social media every time we are in the Super Bowl,” says Budweiser VP Ricardo Marques. “They are part of our Super Bowl plans, they will simply not be featured on [Super Bowl] Sunday.”
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