Will you have your eyes peeled for the stately Budweiser Clydesdales during Super Bowl LIX? Only a certain section of the TV audience will get to see the venerable commercial beasts.
Anheuser-Busch InBev has decided to air a new Budweiser commercial featuring the horses only in select local markets including Phoenix AZ, Oklahoma City OK, Tulsa OK, El Paso TX, Harlingen-Weslaco-Brownsville TX, Houston TX, San Antonio TX, Waco-Temple-Bryan TX, St. Louis MO and New Orleans LA. The strategy, which involves buying up commercial inventory available on local stations during the Big Game, has been increasingly adopted by Super Bowl advertisers in recent years as the cost of advertising in the event rises significantly and as marketers look to hone in on specific customers, rather than the broader mass of people watching the spectacle. The commercial will also be made available via digital media.
A 15-second teaser of the local ad feature two of the Clydesdales as well as a shot of the ears of a new foal. “Let Your Love Flow,” a 1976 hit by the Bellamy Brothers plays while graphics tell viewers that the spot is “Coming. Super Bowl LIX.”
Anheuser-Busch InBev has committed to buy three minutes of national ad time during Fox’s February 9 telecast of Super Bowl LIX for Bud Light, Michelob Ultra and Stella Artois, and 45 seconds of commercial time on local stations in various markets for the Budweiser commercial as well as one for Busch Light.
Local ads aren’t really Super Bowl contenders. They aren’t designed to be seen by the whole viewing audience and their costs are significantly less than those being charged for their national counterparts. Fox, which was nearly sold out of Super Bowl inventory in August, has used higher-than-usual demand for the pigskin classic to seek more than $7 million for 30 seconds of ad time.
Last year, the Clydesdales could be seen by everyone who watched Super Bowl LVIII on CBS. In a commercial that utilized The Band’s 1968 mainstay “The Weight,” the Clydesdales nudged their owner to lend a hand by delivering beer to a nearby bar despite a snowstorm. In 2023, the horses appeared only in a handful of local markets in a spot aimed at younger consumers.
Other brewers have tested the local strategy. Boston Beer and Diageo PLC have both taken to local markets to tout beverages like Sam Adams or Guinness during Super Bowl games. Such tactics helped the brewers skirt the high prices of national ad inventory , and in the past helped them get around the long-standing edicts of a deal that made Anheuser-Busch InBev. the exclusive malt beverage sponsor of the Super Bowl. The company ceded that right in 2022.
The Clydesdales have become a Super Bowl favorite, appearing in the commercials that support the NFL extravaganza on 45 different occasions. But their presence is not guaranteed, and largely depends on whether executives at Anheuser-Busch feel they have a creative concept that meets the moment.
The horses typically appear when the brewing giant wants to pull on emotions, feelings of pride, and, occasionally, the funny bone. In 2002, the animals helped a nation heal in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. In 2014 and 2015, a Labrador pup joined the team to spotlight friendship.
