Bud Light exchanges fun for ingredients. Good luck!

A few years ago I read that someone in marketing at Bud Light said: "Beer drinking is fun, so we think our ads should be fun."  That works for me.

But I guess he has moved on, because Bud Light has just launched a new campaign focused on their ingredients.  One of the commercials positions the brand as an alternative to craft beers, which is an interesting idea.  But it's still all about the ingredients.

You can look at the ads here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQZzzs7iOX0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGUoxBV0Tck

Last fall, Taster's Choice launched a new campaign with a similar ingredients focus.  My students weren't impressed by it.  You can check out their comments here...

http://pjlehrer.blogspot.com/2016/10/will-new-campaign-for-tasters-choice.html

Unfortunately the commercial is no longer available. I'm sure it's no coincidence.

Brown, L. (2017, August 10)  Bud Light's new Ads Seek To Turn Around 'Underdog' Image.  stltoday.com   Retrieved August 10, 207, from

http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/bud-light-s-new-ads-seek-to-turn-around-underdog/article_a3837fc5-ee11-5c30-8fdf-d92d5b5de383.html

Is sophomoric advertising responsible for the decline of light beer sales?

Light beer sales have been falling since 2007.  And, Bud Light has gone through five ad agencies in five years in an effort to stop the decline.  But were they responsible for it in the first place?

Beer execs have long favored funny advertising for their products because drinking beer is fun.  That makes sense to me.  But when does humor go too far and begin to damage perceptions?  Over the years, the humor in beer ads has become increasingly sophomoric featuring talking dogs and fighting squirrels. 

Marty Stock, CEO of Cavalry, a former Coors Light agency, speculates that these ads went too far and have turned light beer into a punch line in the craft beer age.  Interesting. (Mickle, 2015)

What do you think?  Did these ads damage the perception of the category, and open the way to the surge in craft beers?  Or is it simply that Millennials prefer craft beers for other reasons?  Do you think the right campaign can persuade people to drink light beers again, or is it too late?

Mickle, T. (2015, October 12)  Can Advertising Revive Light Beer?  Wall Street Journal, p B1 &2.  Retrieved October 16, 2015, from http://www.pressreader.com/china/the-wall-street-journal-asia/20151013/281870117272734/TextView