Bud Light goes back to full-mucho
The iconic, disgraced beer brand passes the ball to Peyton Manning.
How do you solve a major brand problem where you've essentially completely alienated your customer base by presenting an image of their favourite drink that is the exact antithesis of what they stand for at their core?
Yes - you respond by going ALL IN on reclaiming your place in the minds of your legacy customers by taking your old, successful brand associations and renew your efforts to entrench them into the psyche of your people; driving them as far to the extreme that they'll go.
That's it - you burn down any remnants of latent mental images of your mistake by replacing them with a tidal wave of 'safe advertising'.
The weapon of annihilation in this case is uber-macho man Peyton Manning and this lead-up-to-the-Superbowl ad that just screams of beerhall body odour and loud public singing of 'Come on Eileen'.
Far from this being some kind of criticism of the brand - I think the approach here is inspired.
Brands often tend to be lured into expanding their footprint into areas that they just shouldn't. Maybe because brand managers get bored or somebody signs off on a weird idea while they were drunk at a Christmas party. But you're stepping into treacherous territory when you mess with a formula that works.
Bud Light learnt that lesson the hard way in 2023; if they're lucky they'll claw their way back into the hearts and holsters of their conservative customer base in 2024. This ad is a step back into the right direction.
Previously:
Jon Cherry