This past year was unprecedented; many new things were thrown upon the American population. It’s a new year now and why should changes surprise us? For the Superbowl and it’s famous commercials. Budweiser is opting out, alongside Pepsi and Coke. Bill Oberlander, co-founder and executive creative of as agency Oberlander recently [1] told The Post,
For The Superbowl, you generally go big or go home.
What Does Budweiser Say?
Since 1983, Anheuser-Busch has advertised during the Superbowl. Budweiser is the one who brought America talking frogs, wiener nationals, and of course the majestic Clydesdales. A favorite among even non-football fanatics, Budweiser commercials will be noticeably absent.The forty year tradition is changing this year. This beer manufacturer is opting out of advertising for the Superbowl. Instead, it is donating the money usually spent on ads to Coronavirus vaccination awareness [2]. It does plan on advertising for four minutes with other brands aimed at younger viewers.
What About Pepsi?
Pepsi has already announced that they, too, are cutting their Superbowl advertising. Pepsi is making the most of their advertising through the Pepsi halftime show. It does plan on still using commercials for Mountain Dew and Frito-Lay products.
What About Coke?
Coca-Cola is not running ads during the Superbowl. They gave no reason at this time.
Anyone Else?
Yes, Audi is opting out along with Avacados from Mexico.
Who Will Be Advertising?
Companies like M7M’s, Pringles, and Toyota are all advertising. New companies are picking up the slack, too. However, ads are usually made back in the fall. That was the problem: unsure election and pandemic worries.
Why The Changes?
Overall, the companies are blaming the coronavirus for the changes. People stay home more, drinking less sugary liquids. Thus profits are not as expected at the beginning of 2020. Coke is laying off its people as well as its brands [3].
Not only the pandemic, but viewership is down this year. Even with a modest amount of new shows on television, political debates, and other bad news, Americans chose not to watch the NFL games, possibly because of our President Trump making the stand that most Americans go along with. Trump said that he wouldn’t watch NFL games if the players kneel (show disrespect) during the National Anthem [4]. They did and he was true to his word. In support of him, many more Americans followed his example. NFL ratings were lower than the last three years [5].
Notes:
- ^https://nypost.com/2021/01/25/budweiser-to-pass-on-super-bowl-commercials-this-year/ (go back ↩)
- ^https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/budweiser-joins-coke-pepsi-brands-sitting-super-bowl-75465983 (go back ↩)
- ^https://sports.yahoo.com/coca-cola-sit-super-bowl-033449807.html (go back ↩)
- ^https://fox17.com/news/local/president-trump-says-he-wont-watch-nfl-games-if-players-kneel-during-national-anthem (go back ↩)
- ^https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/nfl-ratings-slip-in-2020-remain-dominant-on-broadcast#:~:text=The%202020%20figure%20comes%20in,7%20percent%20year%20to%20year. (go back ↩)
