No horsing around — Clydesdales are back for big game
By David Sweet • Feb 5th, 2010 • Category: A-B InBev, super bowl
It’s almost like the New Coke fiasco from the 1980s — a major company makes a blunder, switches course to appease public opinion and in the process earns priceless publicity.
That’s one way to look at the Anheuser-Busch InBev switcheroo the past week. After it was announced (and discussed in Sports on Tap) that the beloved Clydesdales had not made the cut for a Super Bowl commercial on Sunday — despite their many appearances in the past and the fact that A-B had secured five minutes of ad time — Clydesdale fans roared their disapproval. A-B quickly put a recut Clydesdale commercial on its Facebook page along with two other choices and asked the public to vote on whether it should appear on TV during the game in Miami. More than 3,000 people responded and heavily favored the Clydesdales.
So the Clydesdales will appear after all. As industry analyst David “Bump” Williams told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “A Super Bowl is not a Super Bowl without the Clydesdales.”Of course, another ad was knocked off to appease the horse lovers. To make room for the new commercial, a Bud Light spot was dropped. No word on whether that ad will now appear on Facebook for voting.
