Monday on Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria,” former Anheuser-Busch executive Anson Frericks applauded Budweiser’s effort to “pivot” from the Dylan Mulvaney endorsement that lost his former employer market share.
“Well, advertisers, as you mentioned, paid $8 million to $10 million this year for ads,” Frericks said. “They better be getting banged for their buck. And I think they do that for two reasons. One, the commercial has to be memorable, and then second, it needs to change consumer behavior. And as you know, over the last couple of years, Budweiser has been in a tough spot with — there were some commercials that they had with Dylan Mulvaney that were memorable, but the consumer behavior that changed, they lost tons of consumers.”
He continued, “I think this is a step back in the right direction where you’re having Eagles, you’re having Clydesdales, you’re having classic rock, ‘Free Bird.’ I think this is changing the consumer direction back towards people wanting to drink more Budweiser and drinking more beer.”
Host Maria Bartiromo replied, “And you think Budweiser did it. You think they were effective in doing that, getting back to patriotism for America?”
Frericks said, “I think we’re going to see over this past year, but the company has actually been gaining market share in the United States over the last year. So, their commercials are heading back in the right direction. They’re starting to resonate with that sort of everyday sort of beer drinker. They’re starting to bring more people back into socializing as well. I think it’s been too much discussion over the last year about people staying home, people playing video games, not going out.”
“But I think that as a country, we need to start coming back together, and I think beer is something that’s always brought people back together, and I think this commercial is a good way to start that discussion again, bringing folks together that will love the commercial, regardless of what your political background is,” he added. “I mean, how can you hate Eagles? How can you hate Clydesdales? How can you hate Lynyrd Skynyrd? This is a good way to bring people back together and do it over a good cold beer.”
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