Suddenly, Budweiser’s big annual Super Bowl storytelling ad seems political. Anheuser-Busch released its tale of co-founder Adolphus Busch coming to America — "I vant to brew beer" — just as extraordinary new Trump administration rules restricting entry into the U.S. provoked a national furor.
And in this context, the ad, which sees Busch being told to "go back home" and ends with him meeting Eberhard Anheuser in St. Louis, plays as a direct comment on the desirability of immigration. Without it, there’s no Budweiser, no "King of Beers," no Clydesdales — and, by the way, a whole lot of open space for other Super Bowl advertisers, because Bud has been the king of that category, as well.
Clearly, A-B doesn’t want to inflame passions on either side of the current immigration debate when the ad airs during Sunday evening’s battle between the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons. It’s been taking pains to point out the commercial was conceived and shot before the presidential election.
MOST READ ENTERTAINMENT NEWS THIS HOUR
But with an expected audience of about 110 million for the game, and tens of millions more for the buzz around the commercial spots, the Super Bowl magnifies all messages. That’s why advertisers are willing to pay more than $5 million this year for 30 seconds of time; it remains the nation’s biggest annual TV gathering.
Some advertisers court controversy. 84 Lumber, a Pennsylvania company, has won the annual rejection bowl, producing a spot with political overtones that the Fox network, which is televising the game, said it wouldn’t air. In the past GoDaddy, the Web services provider, would win that game by making a deliberately risque ad, allowing it to sound off about how the cowardly network didn’t dare show its cutting-edge creative genius (so come to our website to see the banned spot).
But GoDaddy in recent years has been producing commercials that fall in the Super Bowl advertising mainstream: an attempt at humor, an attempt to tie that humor to a message about the company’s product.
Such ads constitute the great majority of what viewers are likely to see this year, especially in this polarized political environment, thinks Derek Rucker, a marketing professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management who helps guide the school’s annual Super Bowl Ad Review.
"I anticipate that, given the climate, most brands will play it safer this year," Rucker said. "In general there’s going to be extra scrutiny. This is not the year to do something that offends half the audience or worse."
Instead, a couple of advertisers are attempting to stand out by producing live or almost-live ads. Snickers will air a live spot starring actor Adam Driver, and Hyundai is shooting an ad just before and during the game and will have it ready to air immediately after the game.
It’s a potentially smart strategy, a way to sidestep the question of whether a company releases its big Super Bowl ad ahead of time, for maximum impressions, or springs it in-game, for maximum surprise.
"They’re kind of generating buzz without giving it away," said Rucker. "The question I have is will that come off as a powerful, transformative piece of advertising or is it just going to be gimmicky?"
Given Snickers history of advertising savvy, "I’m optimistic that they’ll give us something memorable," Rucker said.
Video: Honda CR-V 2017 Super Bowl ad
Watch the Honda CR-V Super Bowl ad.
Watch the Honda CR-V Super Bowl ad.
See more videos
Celebrities, of course, are all over the place. Honda cleverly brings the high school yearbook photos of people who are now superstars — Tina Fey, Viola Davis, many more — to life. Mercedes has an ad starring Peter Fonda and directed by the Coen Brothers. Tiffany has Lady Gaga, who is also among the halftime performers.
Video: Bud Light ‘Ghost Spuds’ Super Bowl ad
Watch the Bud Light Super Bowl ad featuring "Ghost Spuds."
Watch the Bud Light Super Bowl ad featuring “Ghost Spuds.”
See more videos
And Bud Light is even bringing back an ultimate celebrity with a storied Super Bowl history: the spokesdog Spuds MacKenzie, this time as a ghost in a story that nods to Dickens’ "A Christmas Carol." Could "Wassup?" be what’s up next year?
Another way to steer down the middle is to deliver a message with broad social acceptability. The Audi spot this year will highlight gender equality, while Pepsi’s new Lifewtr showcases the power of art. WeatherTech, in Bolingbrook, is back with an ad about being "Made in America," a theme that Chrysler, too, has successfully mined in a series of well-received ads.
But the 84 Lumber piece is not playing it safe. What the company is showing online now, and says it will show in the game, is a 90-second epic: an apparently Mexican mother and daughter journeying from home, seeming to emigrate arduously across fields and rivers, on foot and in the back of a truck and in a train car.
The tie-in to a company selling wood is not explicit: 84 Lumber has said it wants to attract young people with "grit" who are looking for work. But Fox rejected an early version of the spot because, 84 Lumber said, it showed a border wall and that’s too touchy a topic.
And now, with that rejection in hand, the lumber company is telling people to go to its website after the ad airs to see the conclusion. "Complete The Journey During Halftime On 2.5.17," says the Journey84.com site it set up. "(Contains Content Deemed Too Controversial for TV)."
Budweiser’s ad isn’t being blocked. It has much more clout with Fox than a small Pennsylvania company, and its commercial is about German immigration in the 19th century rather than Mexican immigration today.
But, still, the leading American brewer (now owned by an international conglomerate) was taking a calculated gamble by turning away from its usual heart-tugging stories of puppies that just want to get back home and the heroic horses that help them.
To people who are already reacting to the A-B spot, called "Born the Hard Way," as political content, Rucker has a message: "Guys, this is Budweiser and it’s a Super Bowl commercial. It’s not like they developed this the other day."
But there can be payoff, he said, in being perceived as topical as long as the power of the message overwhelms the naysayers. Case in point: a Coke ad three years ago in which people sang "America the Beautiful" in their own languages.
"One group jumped in and said, ‘This is anti-American,’" Rucker said. "Then there was a much larger voice that said, ‘No, this is what America is about.’"
That this was taking place around the Super Bowl, in the context of attempting to boost sales of commercial products, only amplified the American-ness of it all.
sajohnson@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @StevenKJohnson
RELATED STORIES:
Super Bowl commercials 2016: Best and worst
Say goodbye to Doritos (commercials) during Super Bowl LI
WeatherTech founder bets big on Super Bowl ads
Check out the latest movie reviews from Michael Phillips and the Chicago Tribune.
Check out reviews for all new music releases from Tribune music critic Greg Kot.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
