Budweiser advertising during the 2016 Super Bowl includes “Simply Put”, a television commercial featuring British actress Helen Mirren, calling out drivers to #GiveADamn and protect their lives and the lives of others. Mirren draws on her reputation for straight talking to put drunk drivers in their place. The commercial introduces viewers to Stand With Bud, an online campaign encouraging commitments to not drive drunk on Super Bowl Sunday.
Stand With Bud
To encourage fans to find safe rides home on game night, Budweiser created StandWithBud.com, which provides people with the most convenient transportation options based on their locations, from taxis to car services (including discount codes where permissible). StandWithBud.com also invites people to take a pledge to #GiveADamn and not drive drunk on Super Bowl Sunday, then share their commitment on social media using Mirren’s brazen tone. For each use of campaign hashtag #GiveADamn through 11:59 p.m. ET on Sunday night, Budweiser will spend an additional $1 on safe ride home programs (up to $1 million) in 2016. The hashtag also triggers an eye-catching Twitter emoji that will facilitate additional shares of the campaign message.
“We can all agree that driving drunk is a very bad idea, yet people still do it. If we’re able to make one person think twice and not get behind the wheel, then this campaign has done its job,” said Brian Perkins, vice president, Budweiser. “We care about our consumers, and we wanted to address the issue differently than anyone ever has before, in an effort to start as many conversations as possible and get people to make a plan.”
Anheuser-Busch and Responsible Drinking
Over the past 30 years, Anheuser-Busch and its wholesaler partners have invested more than $1 billion in the U.S. to promote alcohol responsibility. This includes connecting with millions of fans each year through partnerships with major league sports, music festivals and other marquee events. Through Anheuser-Busch’s Safe-Ride Home programs, the company has provided more than 2.8 million rides from bars and restaurants since 1989. Also, in partnership with AAA, Budweiser’s “Tow to Go” program has removed more than 24,000 impaired drivers from the road over the past two decades.
Through its new Global Smart Drinking Goals, Anheuser-Busch has committed to investing a billion dollars in marketing campaigns globally to influence social norms and change behaviors to measurably decrease harmful alcohol use over the next 10 years. In addition, Anheuser-Busch’s new global initiative Tackle Impossible will create breakthrough solutions to reduce drunk driving accidents and champion designated driving.
Credits
The Budweiser Simply Put campaign was developed at Anomaly by chief creative officer Mike Byrne, partner Jason Deland, creative directors Christine Gignac and Scott Hayes, head of broadcast production Andrew Lovenguth, senior broadcast producer Amy Bonin, global managing director Brent Rivard, account director Megan Ermitage, account supervisor Regina Cardenas, account executives Stefanie Litman and Griffin Miller.
Filming was shot by director Jake Scott via RSA Films.
Editor was Adam Pertofsky at Rock Paper Scissors, New York. Post production was done at Method Studios and Company 3. Music was produced at Tonefarmer.
