AB InBev Bashing Craft?

The Bud commercials are for Bud drinkers. They are designed to validate the Bud drinker and the choice made to drink their beer. I don't think they are designed to attract new drinkers.

 

That really wasn't the point of my post. But...thanks, I didn't know that.

 

Oops. Sorry @dennis3951.

 

If you don't believe they are 100% targeting teenagers who are about to become either macro drinkers or craft drinkers, you're just wrong.

Hey kids! We have fun over here on our side of the fence. That other stuff is for boring nerds!

 

Well I don't believe they are targeting teenagers. Prove I'm wrong.

Furthermore if you can convincingly demonstrate that you are correct to the Feds you could get those commercials kicked off the air and maybe even get ABInBev fined for running them in the first place.

 

Pulling the fightin Phils into this is below the belt.

 

You are ignoring the tendency for kids to do the opposite of what their parents do.

 

When a new product is being introduced, sales materials go out with a specified target audience, and often they will say something like LA - 25 (Legal Age - 25). This basically means 'new drinkers', and duh, of course they want the kids with 21st birthdays coming up to see these commercials. But no, intent to advertise to minors is never stated explicitly. Only hinted at, and when I say hinted, I mean they make it obvious.

 

I think it does show where the beer industry is and is going. I think you are right that it is a commercial to protect their share. It is not a good sign for them as to what growth they are forecasting. I will say that these commercials while not directed at just teenagers (who wouldn't want to be in the cool crowd) there is definitely a young hip vibe to them.

 

Sorry but that's just a repetition of your claim. Furthermore, same claim could be made about almost any advertising/marketing campaign ever launched.

 

OK, you're right. And those colorful glass pipes at the record store are for tobacco, just like the kid working there told you.

 

Bud has lost over 7% of its market share in the past decade. They're scared. Step 1) buy craft breweries. Step 2) mock people who buy craft beer. Step 3) profit?

 

The recent ad campaigns are apparently slowing the decline.

From the article that @jesskidden provided a link to:

“Following Anheuser-Bush's second-quarter earnings release this week, the top beverage-industry stock analyst was quoted in Beer Marketers Insights saying Budweiser: "...slow(ed) its share decline to just 0.15 share as 'Brewed the Hard Way' and 'Buds with burgers' campaigns contributed to Bud’s 'best performance in over 20 years.'

Cheers!

 

Very true. My brother in law came around eventually not because of my proselytizing, but because I just kept some decent beers in the fridge and he had no other choices. He once talked crap about "craft" beer, but now brings over an array of nice beers. I like the subtle approach now that I'm getting older. He does not buy Bud Light anymore.

 

While there is certainly nothing explicit in those commercials that targets a 20-year old (or 18- or 19-year old) versus a person of legal drinking age, debating whether or not they are sort of sidesteps the reality: that marketing campaigns are geared towards age ranges. For all intents and purposes, 18-, 19- and 20-year olds are the same as a 21-year olds from a marketing perspective. This difficulty in distinguishing the marketing group along legal divisions is exactly why alcohol companies often do campaigns about things like "21 means 21" and other CYA advertisements that are bordering on PSA more than advertisement.

ABInBev doesn't need to worry about getting in trouble for targeting underage drinkers because truthfully, they aren't. They are targeting a lifestyle/demographic that includes both underage and legal drinkers, but doing it in a general enough way that they aren't realistically targeting underage drinkers.

The trick is that the way people mature and consume products doesn't always fit in with the arbitrary line the law has chosen to implement for how those products should be consumed.

 

Echoing some sentiments of others above... Unlike promiscuous craft beer drinkers, the macro crowd tends to be faithful to a particular logo/brand. Strengthening the faithful is a wise marketing strategy, in my opinion.

Also, many of the BMC people do have a lot of disdain for the craft beer movement and this is like throwing them some red meat to fuel their rage. I get this from a lot of retirement age guys, especially pilots and police that I know.

 

They are also for young people who are just starting to drink.

 

Exactly. They are targeting a particular demographic or lifestyle that may include both kinds of drinkers. While their ads may impact both age groups the underage impact is a side-effect or fringe benefit (quite possibly intentional) rather than 100% their target.

 

I hadn't seen that. Thanks for sharing.

 

It seems I miscommunicated, as that possibly intentional fringe benefit took the focus of my remarks. This is pretty much what I meant to say.

I'll stand by this, however - that 'quite possibly intentional' fringe benefit is 100% intentional. You and I know it, AB Inbev knows it, the courts even know it - but as long as they don't come right out and say it, and as long as they keep pushing those '21 MEANS 21' ads, there's nothing anyone can do about it.