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Budweiser could pay price for being "America's Beer"

Fri Jun 13, 2008 2:57am IST
 
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By Paul Thomasch - Analysis

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Budweiser spends nearly half a billion dollars a year promoting itself as America's beer -- a pitch that could soon get a lot tougher to make.

For decades, St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc (BUD.N: Quote, Profile, Research) has pushed its Budweiser and Bud Light brands to mainstream America with an award-winning mix of campaigns that are hardly subtle in their patriotism.

The company uses red, white and blue as its colors; it employs soldiers, Clydesdale horses, and stock cars in its advertising. One past slogan announced: "American owned. Brewed here. Born here." A current ad declares that its beer is a "Great American Lager."

The branding may not be so easy to maintain if Anheuser-Busch is taken over by Belgium's InBev NV INTB.BR, which has made a roughly $46 billion bid for its U.S. rival.

"They would most certainly not abandon their position, but certainly they are going to have a tough time," said Kevin Swanepoel, a veteran ad executive and currently president of The One Club, a nonprofit group that awards advertising achievements.

Already websites have cropped up calling for the public to apply pressure to keep the company out of InBev's hands. One, www.saveAB.com, declares, "Anheuser-Busch is an American original ... Now, our city, our state, our nation and our workers are being threatened with the loss of A-B to foreign investors."

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Among the notable ads from Anheuser-Busch in recent years is the Super Bowl spot that ran after September 11, 2001, that showed its famous Clydesdale horses bowing in tribute to the victims of the attack.  Continued...

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