Anheuser-Busch Benches Budweiser From Super Bowl Advertiser Starting Roster

There will be no Clydesdales this year as beverage giant Anheuser-Busch InBev will not be making any Super Bowl commercials for their flagship Budweiser beer — the first time in 37 years that the brand won’t be participating in the Super Bowl Ad Bowl. The decision follows those of other companies – notably major Super Bowl advertisers Coca-Cola and PepsiCo – to put the kibosh on Super Bowl ads due to the continued economic difficulties associated with the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Instead, Anheuser-Busch InBev/Budweiser will give the money it might have spent on running a Super Bowl commercial to the Ad Council, an industry coalition that produces and places public-service announcements, to help raise awareness of the benefits of getting the coronavirus vaccine.

However, Anheuser-Busch InBev will not be completely eliminating their Super Bowl advertising presence as they still plan on running four minutes’ worth of commercials – at a whopping $5.5 million per 30 seconds – during Super Bowl LV for Bud Light, Bud Light Seltzer Lemonade, Michelob Ultra, and Michelob Ultra Organic Seltzer as well as local ads in select markets for Stella Artois and Cutwater Sprits.

But they will be slicing off the Budweiser chunk of that advertising pie – estimated to be $41 million in last year’s game.