A growing number of big-name advertisers won’t be seen during the Super this year. For the first time in 37 years, Budweiser won’t air a Super Bowl ad during the game.
Instead of paying $5.6 million to air a Super Bowl ad during the game, Budweiser-maker Anheuser-Busch will be doing something even better by donating its advertising dollars to the Ad Council and COVID Collaborative to raise awareness of the COVID-19 vaccines, the company said in a statement. On Monday, the company posted online the 90-second ad “Bigger Picture,” which depicts inspiring and heroic stories from the past year during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We believe that when you look closer at what seemed like the most challenging year ever, you can find millions of individual acts that actually brought us hope,” Budweiser said about the ad.
Budweiser won’t have a spot during the game itself, but they will still air the ad in the week leading up to the game, in which the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will face off.
Budweiser isn’t the only company sitting out of the Super Bowl this year, according to The New York Post.
“A startling number of brands known for showcasing new commercials during the big football season finale are bowing out Super Bowl LV this year as advertisers struggle to hit the right note in a country plagued by the coronavirus pandemic, social and political unrest and record unemployment. Those that stay in the game are largely expected to play it safe, experts say.
“There is trepidation around Super Bowl advertising this year,” said Bill Oberlander, co-founder and executive creative of ad agency Oberlander. “For the Super Bowl, you generally go big or go home. I think brands are going home rather than spending tens of millions of dollars and not getting it right. They’re saying, ‘Let’s wait until this s—storm clears.’”
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Among the other brands are Coca-Cola, Hyundai, Olay, Avocados From Mexico, Little Caesars and Ford.
