Anheuser-Busch Promotes Drunk Driving

During the Super Bowl (which I’m now watching), Anheuser-Busch ran a humorous spot that has a subtle reference to drunk driving — and even makes the practice look admissible.

The ad starts when a couple arrive at a quiet, pedestrian wine and cheese party. The women are all in the living room, socializing, and the men have commandeered the kitchen. The arriving man is holding a gigantic cheese wheel, but, once safely in the company of his fellow males, the man lifts the cheese-wheel cover/façade to reveal a hidden six-pack of Budweiser. The other men follow suit, cracking their baguettes open and disassembling their boxed wine to reveal hidden Budweisers.

It was all fun and good, until the last scene.

Presumably after drinking the six-pack of Budweiser in the kitchen, our male character heads for the front door and tells his spouse that he’s off to the store to get more cheese (obviously referring to a secret beer run).

I assume he’s driving to the store after downing a six-pack.

Did Anheuser-Busch just f*** up big time?

I mean, it’s a funny ad. It’s not serious. But Anheuser-Busch sells alcohol, and they’ve got to be ultra-sensitive about this.

They could’ve solved this easily by making it clear that the man was walking to the corner grocery store, or taking a taxi.

I think they ought to make a little donation to Mothers Against Drunk Driving to compensate. Doing that at least is a step in the right direction. And next time, Anheuser-Busch should choose an ad agency that is sensitive to their unique moral responsibility, being in the alcohol-bottling business as they are.

Edit:

Apparently, insensitivity is popular this year. Salesgenie.com’s halftime spot features a Panda family and their business, and all of the pandas have really deliberate and almost comical Chinese accents, and characters named Ling-Ling. Really, this isn’t a big deal (I don’t think the Budweiser ad is anything to cry over either). I just think that, in each case, both the advertiser and the marketing firm should’ve thought more about potential negative reactions (including overreactions). Have they learned nothing from the overreaction over Jar-Jar Binks?