It’s been said that no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.
It’s also tough to go broke peddling them beers, so the folks at Anheuser-Busch InBev are in no danger of going belly up despite that fact.
Though Anheuser-Busch became foreign-owned in 2008, the brewer’s Belgium-based parent company — which also has roots in Brazil thanks to AmBev — apparently thinks most of the U.S. is either unaware (possible) or doesn’t care (more possible) and is going full ‘Merica with a new campaign.
To that end, they’ve swapped out “Budweiser” on the summer standby’s cans and bottles and replaced it with “America.” In a bid to capitalize on the fallout of what some at Bud believe will be “maybe the most American summer ever,” the limited-edition brews will remain on shelves through the presidential election in November.
In addition to changing out the name, Bud has changed “King of Beers” to “E Pluribus Unum,” “Anheuser-Busch, Inc.” to “Liberty & Justice For All,” and “Registered” to “Since 1776.” All’s fair in love and advertising, but claiming the born-on date of the U.S. of A. to make a buck seems a bit much.
“We thought nothing was more iconic than Budweiser and nothing was more iconic than America,” says Tosh Hall, the creative director at the can’s branding firm JKR.
He’s right on one of those points, but we’ll stick with apple pie, whiskey and the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders for U.S. icons that are, you know, actually American.
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