Budweiser Shuns Super Bowl Ads to Focus on Vaccine Awareness

Beer giant Budweiser is the latest big advertiser to take a pass on buying ad time during this year’s Super Bowl.

Over the weekend, it was learned that a large number of big-name advertisers that have been handing over millions for Super Bowl ads for more than a decade have decided to skip the big game this year. According to insiders, many of these advertisers have at last become fearful about not striking the right tone amid America’s contentious political landscape.

Today, one of the NFL’s oldest advertisers has joined the no-go list.

Budweiser, “The King of Beers,” has pushed out some of the most iconic Super Bowl commercials of them all. And they’ve been doing it for 37 years. But not this year, according to the New York Post.

“Like everyone else, we are eager to get people back together, reopen restaurants and bars, and be able to gather to cheers with friends and family,” Monica Rustgi, vice president of marketing at Budweiser, said in a statement on Monday. “To do this, and to bring consumers back into neighborhood bars and restaurants that were hit exceptionally hard by the pandemic, we’re stepping in to support critical awareness of the COVID-19 vaccine.”

Budweiser further reported that instead of handing millions over to the NFL, the company would put at least some of the money toward the Ad Council’s campaign to raise awareness about the coronavirus.

Over the weekend, the Post noted that industry insiders have become worried that the country has become too divided to push out more politically motivated ads. And in recent years, companies have faced backlashes and lost millions because of advertisements that angered people and sparked slews of boycotts instead of making them want to patronize a product.

Along with Budweiser, Coke has decided to skip the NFL’s biggest game. Joining them are Hyundai, Olay, Avocados From Mexico, Little Caesars, and Ford Motors, all of which have been taking out Super Bowl ads for a decade or more.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston.