Budweiser to become ‘America’

NEW YORK: Budweiser will soon appear on shelves with a new name: America.

Pointing to a slew of summer events set to bring out feelings of nationalism, Budweiser said on Tuesday that it would replace the word “Budweiser” with “America” on its cans, bottles and packaging from May 23 through the general elections in November.

“It will be probably the most American summer of our generation,” said Ricardo Marques, a Budweiser vice president.

Along with the traditional spring and summer holidays — Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labour Day, this summer will bring the Summer Olympics in Brazil, and the Copa America soccer tournament, to be held in June in sites throughout the United States.

Budweiser is one of the top-selling beers in the United States and has been brewed in St Louis since the 1800s.

It is far from the first company to try to cash in on feelings of nationalism, but renaming the brand temporarily is a new tactic for a company known for spending big on advertising.

The redesigned can will replace each element of Budweiser-specific branding with Americana. The beer’s slogan, “King of Beers,” will be replaced with “E Pluribus Unum” (“Out of many, one”), the words featured on US currency. Instead of a description of the brewing process at the top of the can, there will be lyrics to “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

The new l ook was designed by Jones Knowles Ritchie, which has offices in London, New York, Singapore and Shanghai.

The design does raise the question: When a thirsty American goes to the store looking for Budweiser, would he or she be confused upon encountering America instead?

“We have no doubt that consumers will recognise it in a heartbeat,” Marques said.

The company may be hoping that the effort is more successful than one recent, ill-fated slogan attempt that was criticized as being tone-deaf toward alcohol’s role in date rape.

Last year, as part of its “Up for Whatever” campaign, the beer company printed on some of its labels: “The perfect beer for removing ‘no’ from your vocabulary for the night.”

After an online firestorm, the company apologised and dropped the slogan.