Take a cute labrador puppy, pair the dog up with a Clydesdale horse, add in a Budweiser hat-wearing farmer and a critter-loving neighbour and what you get is a mystery.
How does this Budweiser ad help it sell beer?
The ad, directed by Jake Scott, son of Ridley Scott, is called simply Puppy Love and it is romance story.
The immediate one is the pairing of the puppy who will go to any lengths to nuzzle the horse next door. The background story is the one between the owner of the puppy (woman) and the Budweiser-hat guy.
But as many have commented on Youtube, where the ad was posted ahead of its Superbowl debut, how exactly does the commercial inspire beer-buying and beer consumption?
This from a commentator known as Naked Lion:
Anheuser-Busch or who ever owns Budweiser beer or whoever. This commercial doesn’t motivate me to go out and buy Budweiser beer much less to even get up and have a beer. Or was this commercial sponsored by SPCA or the like to get me to go out and buy a puppy, or maybe a horse?
In response, another commentator noted that the point of the ad is to get people to say the B word.
In an analysis piece, Reuters dissected why Budweiser did an ad that didn’t focus on beer drinking.
It comes down to appealing to both men and women and tugging at their emotions while telling them the ad is not about Budweiser, but about them, the consumer and the connection they feel when they watch something heart-warming.
Pretty darn clever.
