Budweiser: Beechwood Aged Bull@#&!

The Budweiser "Brewed the Hard Way" commercial may not stir much response among most people, but it is notorious among craft beer drinkers. When it debuted during the 2015 Superbowl, craft beer drinkers everywhere were enraged and even, dare we say it, offended. Not in the "political correctness" kind of offensiveness, but in the how-can-they-be-so-hypocritical-and-obnoxious way. Let's take a look at the anatomy of this ad, and see if we can understand what it is saying, and why it ticked off all those craft beer drinkers. But first, here's the entire ad:

The commercial begins with shots of the Budweiser brewery and an American flag (Figure 1). It sets the stage of Budweiser being all American, with a legacy as an institution. Additionally, it portrays Budweiser as a kind of industrial power--a factory in a romantic sense. What goes on inside this plays, we are told, is brewing big, manly "Macro Beer"(Figure 2)  "The Hard Way" (Figure 3).

Figure 1. The All-American Budweiser Brewery.

Figure 2. Big Beer Brewing in the Classic Factory.

Figure 3. You got to have strong manly hands to turn big handles to make Budweiser.

Consider the different beer drinkers and different beer drinking scenes. Precious "fussy" hipster types in flannel and facial hair in what looks more like a a wine bar (notice the signs on the wall in Figure 5) than a brewery.

Figure 4. Better not try this with your Budweiser. 

Figure 5. Dissecting beer--definitely not manly.

In one especially galling moment, Budweiser says "Let them drink their Pumpkin Peach Ale" as if that is antithetical to the Budweiser drinker and Budweiser beer. In fact, shortly before the Superbowl, Budweiser purchased Elysian Brewing, a company that makes a Pumpkin Peach Ale (Figure 6).

Figure 6. Budweiser might buy a brewery that makes this, but they won't put their brand name on it.

These beer drinkers and ways of drinking beer are contrasted with the bustling scene in a bar which has actual live women and is the scene for drinking lots of Bud, having fun, and not being nerdy. 

Figure 7. Bud bar with fun-loving, beer-drinking men and women.

In the most ridiculous shot, a bartender rapidly uncaps a series of Buds using a bottle opener. Budweiser (as you can actually see in Figure 8.) has twist off caps. You don't need a bottle opener. It's actually harder with a bottle opener. Budweisers are made for drinking lots of 'em--fast and easy. That's one big reason why they have a twist off top.

Figure 8. Don't open beer like this.

Finally, the commercial wraps up with a series of images that literally pile up Budweiser's history upon itself. We see a video clip of the Clydesdale's from an old Bud commercial in Figure 9. We know it's from an old commercial, because the video is degraded--scanlines are visible. This is an intentional manipulation to signify the past, similar to how old TV sports footage one might see during the Superbowl looks, not coincidentally. Then many Budweiser logos, signs, and advertisements pile on top of each other.

Figure 9. Clip from "old" Bud TV ad.

Figure 10. Old Bud signs cover the screen.

The last thing we see is men unloading cases of Budweiser from the back of an SUV (Figure 11). The Budweiser logo is superimposed on them. These are proper, manly men, being active, drinking proper manly "Macro Beer." Across town, presumably, the fussy hipsters are drinking their Pumpkin Peach Ale. But that's okay. Budweiser owns that brand, also. 

Figure 11. Drinking Budweiser: It's a sport, really. A manly sport. Okay to wear flannel if you are doing this.