Hasta La Creative!

Anheuser-Busch InBev appointed Deutsch as lead creative agency for its family of Busch brands, which includes Busch, Busch Light and Busch Ice.

“Anheuser-Busch is the undisputed leader in the value beer segment, with Busch and Busch Light representing two of the Top 10 best-selling beers in the United States. As part of our ambition to continue to grow share and revitalize these important brands, we are pleased to add Deutsch to our roster as the lead creative agency for the Busch family of beers,” Anheuser-Busch senior director of value brands Chelsea Phillips said in a statement.

She went on to cite Deutsch’s “track record of inventive, award-winning CPG and beverage campaigns,” adding, “They’ve hit the ground running, bringing great energy and ideas to the table, and we look forward to a strong and productive partnership.”

The appointment comes without a review, as AB InBev reached out to Deutsch, which an AB InBev representative told Adweek is “an agency our marketing team has been watching.”

Previously, AB InBev worked with St. Louis agency Group360 on its Busch brands. Group360 will continue to work on some aspects of the account, even with Deutsch taking over lead creative duties. The client has also worked with 72andSunny, which crafted the brand’s “Busch Heroes” broadcast campaign in early 2014 but doesn’t appear to have worked with the client since then.

Deutsch deferred to the client when asked to comment. The IPG agency’s New York office will lead this account.

The appointment follows Uber picking Deutsch as its first U.S. agency partner earlier this month following a review. Back in May, the agency also won creative AOR duties for Pandora shortly after losing the Pizza Hut account to Droga5 and going through a subsequent round of layoffs in its L.A. office.

AB In Bev also transferred creative duties on another of its major brands, Bud Light, from BBDO to W+K last summer.

Sure, we Americans drink a whole lot of light beer, but do you realize just how much?

The infographic below from the team at alcohol-fueled site VinePair shows the staggering scope of mainstream beer sales—especially Bud Light, which tallies $3 billion more in sales than its closest competitor, Coors Light.

The data, via IRI and Beer Advocate, are from 2013 but likely still quite accurate. Yuengling stands alone as the only privately owned craft beer in the Top 20, and VinePair notes that smaller brewers make up just 15 percent of sales. (Oh, and the site has another graphic suggesting microbrewed upgrades for the light beer lovers among you.)

If nothing else, the chart highlights the silliness of Budweiser’s Super Bowl ad positioning craft beer as some sort of anti-American hipster insurgency. Anheuser-Busch seems to be doing just fine without having to spend millions in ad dollars to crush the craft beer movement.

Budweiser pretty much won the Super Bowl, advertising-wise, with last year’s “Puppy Love,” a success the brewer hopes to reclaim with this year’s sequel.

“Lost Dog” continues the story of last year’s Clydesdale-obsessed pup, and Anheuser-Busch today released several images and even a few animated GIFs to tease the gameday ad.

“In the spot, the Budweiser Clydesdales will tell an emotional story and help a puppy who has lost his way learn the true meaning of friendship,” Anheuser-Busch says in a news release. 

(We sincerely hope they mean the horses will literally tell the story, with actual neighs and whinnies and flapping horse-lip sounds, but sadly this seems unlikely.)

Our favorite teaser is, of course, the shivering puppy shown above, which perfectly illustrates just how adroitly Budweiser will be playing with America’s emotions on Super Bowl Sunday. I mean, just look at him, the poor guy. Golly I hope it ends well for the trembling little scamp.

Here are a few more GIFs and pics from the spot, which is sure to be a fan favorite:

For more news about the brands and stars preparing buzzworthy spots, be sure to check Adweek’s up-to-the-minute Super Bowl Ad Tracker. 

Anheuser-Busch is tired of allegations that Budweiser might as well be sex in a canoe, and it placed ads this weekend in the Houston Chronicle and The New York Times in response to lawsuits claiming it's been watering down its product to save money. One ad shows a can of the branded water they give away during natural disasters, alongside the headline "They must have tested one of these." Clever, but it's still a clumsy sidestep of the issue at hand, which has nothing to do with A-B's laudable relief efforts, and now they look like they're trying to create a diversion. Thankfully, not everyone in the company is as eager to change the subject. Brewing and supply vp Peter Kraemer tells the press that "the claims against Anheuser-Busch are completely false, and these lawsuits are groundless."