The “Bud Light Party” has ended earlier than expected.
The ad campaign featuring liberal comedian Amy Schumer, who has endorsed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, and liberal actor Seth Rogen, was cut by Anheuser-Busch InBev after a decrease in third-quarter sales.
The political parody ad launched in January 2016, pushing a liberal agenda on the “wage gap” and gender inequality. The ad was intended to target millennials and Hispanics — but the message didn’t translate into sales as they had hoped.
“Despite continued positive signs in brand health evolution, driven by millennials and Hispanics, [the third quarter] was the softest performance of Bud Light for the year from a volume and share perspective,” Bud Light senior director of marketing communications Lisa Weser told Adweek. “The Bud Light Party campaign helped us improve these brand attributes, but it did not translate to improved volume and share performance. While we are clearly not satisfied with Bud Light’s performance, we are already leveraging what we’ve learned to develop and execute new work.”
In one ad, Schumer told Rogen, “We have to pay more for the same stuff, Cars. Dry cleaning. Shampoo. Bud Light proudly supports equal pay. That’s why Bud Light costs the same, no matter if you’re a dude or a lady.”
This ad was so controversial it forced the comment section on YouTube to be disabled.
Personally, I’m glad the ads are gone. I’m tired of companies shoving their political opinions down my throat. Maybe other millennials have finally noticed the liberal bias in the media? One can only hope. I’m sure after this sales downfall Bud Light will stay away from politically targetted ads.
