Budweiser - “Born The Hard Way” - (2017) :60 (United States)

"This is the story of our founder’s ambitious journey to America in pursuit of his dream: to brew the King of Beers," explains Anheuser-Busch Canada as they release this one minute clip showing how Busch immigrated from Germany to the United States. A dangerous journey where boats sunk and people were hostile, but eventually he met Anheuser in St Lois. The parallells to the current boat migrant situation will not be lost on most viewers, since the timing in the USA is right after a controversial executive order. This paralell was in all likelyhood not intended at all. The point is that making a great lager with consistent quality is actually very difficult, like the journey to the US was in the 1800s. Love or hate Budweiser, but they have nailed the consistent quality lager with american crops, hops and water.

In a press release, Ricardo Marques, Anheuser-Busch InBev's VP for Budweiser explained he idea; "This commercial shows the start of Budweiser's journey, and while it is set in the 1800's, it's a story we believe will resonate with today's entrepreneurial generation -- those who continue strive for their dreams."

The great great grandson of Adolphus, Steven Busch, added: "Adolphus would be proud to know we are continuing to celebrate his legacy and his relentless pursuit to create the most iconic beer brand in the world," he said. "It's an honor to follow in his footsteps in the beer business. He lived the American dream and his perseverance, hard work and unwavering commitment to quality laid the foundation for the success of Budweiser and this great company."

Client: Anheuser-Busch
Ad Agency: Anomaly

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Anonymous Adgrunt's picture
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Andreas-Udd's picture

The real history of Busch was that he was an equipment vendor, and married Mr Anheuser's daughter. Anheuser was in debt to Busch for the equipment which made the beer brewing business a family affair. But I guess that doesn't play out so well in a 60 second ad, huh?

As for the ad I think it sort of lost pace after 45 seconds. Like it didn't know how to end. There's no there, there. I bet it will be talked about for the reasons you mention.

Dabitch's picture

They are absolutely getting talked about for the immigration/Executive order reason. As soon as Twitter saw the ad people tweeted at @Budweiser that they were either crying for the feels, or they thought it was "social justice juice" or similar.

PR jumped on that (I assume) so this ad has now aired on local news stations in the US. Congratulations.