America: The Beer
The King of Beers is taking patriotic marketing efforts to new heights.
There's nothing new about consumer brands using Americana to sell products, especially summertime staples like beer. But in this decidedly unusual election year, the King of Beers is taking its patriotic marketing efforts to new heights: Through November, Budweiser is replacing its own name with the word AMERICA. Bits of the Pledge of Allegiance, lyrics from "America the Beautiful," and the words "Since 1776" will also adorn the cans and bottles.
This means that for six months, Americans will be able to crack open a nice cold America to enjoy while watching American baseball teams partake in America's pastime, American athletes compete in the first ever South American Olympics, and American politicians argue about which of them is best prepared to serve America's interests at home (in America) and abroad.
But one item in the above scene won't technically be American at all. Though a member of the Budweiser creative team justified the can and bottle redesign by telling Fast Company that "we thought nothing was more iconic than Budweiser and nothing was more iconic than America," the beer brand's parent company, Anheuser-Busch, was purchased by the Belgian-Brazilian brewing conglomerate InBev in 2008.
This article originally appeared in print under the headline "America: The Beer."
