In a follow-up to its 'macro beer' Super Bowl ad that sparked controversy earlier this year, Budweiser debuted a new video online this week that highlights the beer brand's 139-year-old heritage.
In the new video posted on its YouTube channel titled “This Bud’s for Brooklyn,” bar visitors are asked to sample an unlabeled beer that the bartender describes as a "beer drinker's beer" and "aged over beechwood," while hidden cameras rolled. Only after they try it and give positive feedback are the customers told the beer is Budweiser.
The video shot during NYC Restaurant Week is only planned to run online, according to a spokeswoman.
In February, Anheuser-Busch was criticized after its Super Bowl ad "Brewed the Hard Way" mocked craft beer drinkers with messages that included: "Let them sip their pumpkin peach ale, we'll be brewing us some golden suds."
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Craft beer fans and brewers took to social media to denounce the ad.
But Budweiser isn't backing down from its message celebrating macro beer. “We need to continue to make bold and proud statements affirming Budweiser’s quality and role in beer culture," Budweiser vice president Brian Perkins said in an emailed statement Wednesday about the new video.
“‘This Bud’s for Brooklyn’ is an expansion of that stake in the ground,” Perkins continued. "We’re proud to be America’s No. 1 full-flavored lager and believe the proof of our quality is in the taste. The social experiment in our new video showcases how Budweiser’s clean, fresh taste and crisp finish is meant to be enjoyed by all people — without any label-biases clouding taste buds.”
The U.S. headquarters of A-B InBev is based in St. Louis, where Budweiser debuted in 1876.
