Budweiser says it didn’t pay Broncos’ Peyton Manning to mention it
While some football players fresh off a Super Bowl shout at the cameras they want to go to Disney World, Peyton Manning says he would’ve rather pound a few Buds.
The Denver Broncos quarterback was oddly specific about his Anheuser-Busch product of choice, mentioning Budweiser at least twice during his postgame interviews live on CBS leaving the millions of people wondering if they witnessed a native ad.
“I’ll take some time to reflect. I’ve got a couple of priorities first,” he told a CBS Sports reporter in the first interview. “I want to go kiss my wife and my kids. I want to go hug my family. I’m going to drink a lot of Budweiser tonight.”
The reaction to the endorsement was greeted with bewilderment:
Apparently @Budweiser didn’t give us any Clydesdales or puppies because they put all of their money into Peyton’s post-game speech.
— Lauren Andrich (@laurenandrich) February 8, 2016
Which is worse: the way Peyton threw the football or that the last thing he said as a player was to make us believe he drinks Budweiser.
— Jeffrey Lieber (@JeffLieber) February 8, 2016
‘The only thing sweeter than sharing this trophy with my kids, is with my friends at BUDWEISER!’
— Will Federman (@wfederman) February 8, 2016
Manning’s tacky mention may have sounded like a paid endorsement, but Anheuser-Busch said it wasn’t. “For the record, Budweiser did not pay Peyton Manning to mention Budweiser tonight,” tweeted Lisa Weser, the brand’s head of communications. “We were surprised and delighted he did.”
The odd plug raised more than a few eyebrows since the NFL forbids active players to endorse alcoholic products. Manning, 39, might’ve been dropping a hint he was retiring, but he’s mentioned Bud Light before in a 2014 post-game press conference, saying “What’s weighing on my mind is how soon I can get a Bud Light in my mouth.”
While Budweiser didn’t pay Manning, the brand did receive a windfall of attention. Just one of Manning’s mentions gave the brand $1.6 million lift in brand recognition value, according to sponsorship analytics firm Apex MG Analytics, with both plugs totaling more than $3 million. That’s enough to partially recoup just one of the brand’s several Super Bowl commercials, which reportedly cost $5 million each.
Budweiser was quick to react, sending the Broncos 50 cases of beer to the team’s afterparty, ESPN reports. On Twitter, Budweiser also went into overdrive hyping Manning’s mentions:
We didn’t know the shout out was coming either, but we’re glad it did. @Broncos celebrate like this tonight. #SB50 pic.twitter.com/ugGyt3Sg0z
— Budweiser (@Budweiser) February 8, 2016
We didn’t know that shout out was coming either. True champions recognize kings @JimmyKimmel. #SB50
— Budweiser (@Budweiser) February 8, 2016
With all of this free and unexpected attention, Anheuser-Busch employees are probably also drinking a lot of Bud today, too.
-
Can Snap make it as an AR company?
The real question Snap faces is whether adding AR elements to its platform will help it continue growing in the face of competition and uncertainty.
-
How NFTs could evolve for brands — now that marketers know what they actually are
NFTs are finally growing out of crypto novelty into next-gen loyalty tools. Tyler Moebius, founder and CEO of SmartMedia Technologies, explains where else they can go.
-
Why digital clutter is driving brands to rethink the value of newspapers advertising
GE, Equinox, Take 5 Oil and agency TBWA New York are among those investing in newspaper ads to generate social media buzz in an ever-more cluttered digital environment.
-
SponsoredHow ad tech is tackling waste by optimizing supply chains
Sponsored by Bidtellect The programmatic and digital advertising industry is well aware of the inefficiencies in buying and selling — from auction duplication and volume bias to multi-integrations and reselling — but how did it get this out of control? How can we fix it? A redundant, multiple-step process to ad delivery has become the norm, […]
-
The ‘retirement’ of M&M spokescandies raises questions about viral marketing, edgy content
Marketers have mixed feelings and questions about the value of viral, stunt marketing after M&M's "retirement" of its spokescandies.
-
With TikTok’s growing list of issues, should marketers think twice about the platform?
There is a growing list of issues that TikTok needs to resolve, but marketers seem unfazed and continue to be enthralled by the platform.
