{"id":46105,"date":"2016-11-04T17:26:55","date_gmt":"2016-11-04T21:26:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetsave.com\/?p=46105"},"modified":"2016-11-07T13:27:07","modified_gmt":"2016-11-07T18:27:07","slug":"budweisers-not-backing-ad-corporate-political-parallels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/articles\/budweisers-not-backing-ad-corporate-political-parallels\/","title":{"rendered":"Budweiser’s “Not Backing Down” Ad: Corporate and Political Parallels"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a divisive year in which the U.S. Presidential and multiple Congressional seats are uncertain, candidates have drawn upon large pools of corporate support<\/a> to fund campaigns. The messages within the commercials we see during our favorite screen shows contain many of the same themes that have emerged in the 2016 elections. Research-grounded climate change continues to divide political parties, and it scares big corporations who produce the largest carbon footprint of all. The messages of campaigns and corporate products have a significant common element: they use embedded messages to divide their audiences into groups. That division reinforces the wishes of corporate sponsors, who seek to maintain their power and influence, regardless of the effect on society and our world.<\/p>\n

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Budweiser, that \u201cKing of Beers,\u201d has been strategically advertising its products since 1852 when salespeople provided beer trays for taverns. Throughout its long history, Budweiser has reflected the times through specific social messages that connected beer drinkers with its products<\/a>. That advertising expertise is evident in a 2016 Budweiser commercial which recently aired during the World Series.<\/p>\n

As we analyze this commercial, we not only see the marvel and complexity of marketing<\/a>; we see how international corporations embed messages within their texts to perpetuate systems, institutions, and structures that privilege some and diminish others, such as those of us in the world of sustainable living, who threaten the status quo. This is often referred to hegemony at work.<\/p>\n

The commercial is titled \u201cBudweiser\u2019s Not Backing Down.\u201d Iconography of large scale brewing machinery, hands of hard-working employees, people drinking Budweiser hungrily, bands, athletes, dancers, and the ubiquitous Budweiser Clydesdales appear in a montage. The overt theme is that Budweiser will not allow craft beers to surpass it in popularity, and it places this theme within the idea that Budweiser is not for everyone, but this Bud’s for you.<\/p>\n

The commercial is divided into sections, and each section has a marker phrase that encapsulates the message within that section. Let\u2019s look at these sections and deconstruct how Budweiser moves beyond a superficial theme about product competition to see how it has Othered certain individuals and groups within society. Sustainability initiatives, by definition, fall into these Othered categories.<\/p>\n