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Anheuser-Busch’s VP Issues Statement About “Brewed The Hard Way”

This week has been filled with talk surrounding Anheuser-Busch’s “Brewed the Hard Way” spot during the Super Bowl. The estimated $9 million dollar, 60 second spot, has gotten a lot brewers, especially craft brewers, talking.

This prompted Brian Perkins, VP of the Budweiser to issue a statement about this uproar.

“Brewed the Hard Way” is Budweiser’s way of celebrating being a MACRO brew: a beer enjoyed by many. The prevailing discourse in beer is that small must be good, and big must be bad. We don’t accept that. Lager is one of the most difficult styles to brew well, and we have the highest standards of care to get it right. We are owning who we are without apology.

We’re delighted to have sparked a conversation around beer. Talking with beer drinkers since Sunday, we know the overwhelming majority are really enjoying seeing Budweiser speak up with conviction. This Bud’s for them.

Sense of pride in the Budweiser brand? Or a shot at craft brewing? You decide.

15 thoughts on “Anheuser-Busch’s VP Issues Statement About “Brewed The Hard Way”

  1. What a lame statement! A terrible dodge. If they wanted to talk about how “hard” it is to brew a good lager then they should have talked about that. But they didn’t… they pushed their brand forward on the back of craft brewers and craft brew drinkers. Watch the ad. They mock drinkers as snobby hipsters and mock brewers that make “Pumpkin Peach beers.” (Never mind the brewery who makes that beer is the very one they just purchased–Ha! The irony…)

    You know what is brewing? Macro desperation. They absolutely know they are about 10-15 years from the generation that grew up on their beer dying. What will be left? A generation that grew up on real craft beer. Bud knows the clock is ticking. This ad is not to get craft beer drinkers to try or drink a bud. It is about disrespecting craft beer in an attempt to slow the leakage of their market.

    Bud–no one is buying it. Clock is ticking…

    • You hit the nail on the head. Their ideology seems to be that if people are buying more craft beer from other breweries then we’ll just buy the breweries. Given the fallout from the Elysian deal followed by the superbowl commercial i wouldn’t be surprised if AB finds less and less breweries willing to play ball. The line has been drawn in the sand, either your with us real breweries or you’re with AB. Any respected craft brewery will think twice now before selling out.

  2. Don’t understand all the fuss. Basically Budweiser is claiming that they make crap. We already knew that.

  3. To be fair, Bud does have a massive market. And I’m sure it’s legitimately hard to meet their demand. That much is true: it’s beer, and what they’re doing is no easy task…

    But this VP statement is an obvious dodge of the fight they picked (intentional or otherwise), followed by a rally call for support.

    “You done goofed.”

  4. I am a homebrewer and I make mostly lagers. They are not ” hard ” to make. Lagers take longer to make of course, but they are worth it. Bud has a acetaidehyde taste to it that mine doesn’t. There are tons of Craft Beer lagers in Canada and the US that blow Bud right out of the water. So, AB, you are not as great as you think you are, and I still won’t buy your beer. Been many years now.

  5. The proof is in the pudding guys. Look at the BeerAdvocate scores everyone. Does AB not look there? Beers under 80 aren’t even worth drinking, and I find myself mostly staying above the 90 cutoff. Busweiser scores a 57! Not even something like a 68, a 57. That’s bad. Most entry level beginner level microbrews will at least get into the 70’s. Bud Light, gets a 47!!!!!!1111!1!!!!11

    • Yeah but beer advocate is completely subjective. There is an occasion for every beer. I understand that craft can be more full bodied but it is also heavier so would you want to drink that at a bbq?

  6. I come from Cincinnati where at the ripe old age of 18, we learned that the local brewers in the area — the Christian Morlein’s, Schoenlings, etc., were way better than the commercial offerings such as Budweiser. This was back in the mid-70’s ages before “craft beer” became even remotely what it is today. And I haven’t looked back. Budweiser, and other macro brews like it, are good for what they are — the Joe Six Pack crowd. Sure, lager is a respectable style and perhaps it is difficult to get it right. However even back in the mid-70’s, there were many local Ohio brewers doing lager much better than Budweiser!

  7. Excellent statement. Brewing a Lager for millions with great consistency should be celebrated. A shot at craft beers? Good for Anheuser-Busch! Most craft beers are wildly inconsistent. I personally can’t stand to drink most of them. Bring on the King of Beers!

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