AdMiration feature: Budweiser’s “Great Delivery”

This week we’re looking at “Great Delivery” — Budweiser’s love letter to America and a masterclass in patriotic advertising done right.

Read on to get our 3-2-1 snapshot of the ad (3 facts, 2 learnings and 1 reflection) and learn how their ad was received based on our data.

The ad opens on Budweiser’s iconic Clydesdales pulling a wagon loaded with Budweiser through the American countryside as Grand Funk Railroad’s “We’re an American Band” begins to play. 

The wagon makes its way across the country, with the scenes cutting between downtown streets and open highways. Back in town, people line the streets with American flags and red, white and blue decorations fill the frame as the deliveries continue.

The ad closes on a close-up of Budweiser being poured into a glass before the campaign line “This Bud’s For You. This Bud’s For U.S.” appears on screen.

3 facts

• “Great Delivery” scored well above the average US ad on its ability to drive both short-term sales (Sales Impact: 81) and long-term brand equity (Brand Impact: 83).

• The ad is highly distinctive and cuts through, beating the norm on every reach metric we measure (Ad Distinctiveness: 4.2 vs. 3.7 norm; Claimed Attention: 4.3 vs. 3.9 norm; Brand Distinctiveness: 4.0 vs. 3.7 norm; Uniqueness of Brand Impressions: 4.3 vs. 3.9 norm).

• It also generates a powerful emotional response — Love comes in at 40% (vs. 27% norm), spiking each time the ad leans into its Americana, from the Clydesdales to the flags.

2 learnings

• A DBA can act as an emotional shortcut. The Clydesdales are the first thing we see as the gates open and they instantly spark love from viewers. The horses drive the spot’s biggest Love spikes and also land the highest resonance score in the whole ad (Character Appeal: 4.6 vs. 3.9 norm). They resonate so powerfully because Budweiser has built them up over more than 90 years: introduced in 1933 to celebrate the end of Prohibition, the horses have since become symbols of Budweiser’s heritage and craftsmanship. The brand has leaned on them again and again, from the post-9/11 “Respect” tribute to last year’s “First Delivery”.

• Heritage can earn a brand the right to be bold with patriotism. Budweiser can reach for just about any patriotic symbol it likes — it used a bald eagle in this year’s Super Bowl spot — and it still lands, because the brand is built on 150 years of American heritage. For another brand, a spot filled with so many patriotic symbols might come across as opportunistic; for Budweiser, it reads as sincere and emotionally resonant precisely because of its long-standing role in American life. We see this in the data as well: 53% of viewers associate Budweiser with “celebrates American pride” after watching. As one viewer put it: “I like the way traditional Americans were represented, and it shows that Budweiser is embedded in America's culture.” 

1 reflection

How can you bring Americana or patriotism into your advertising in a way that resonates?

Our research into patriotic marketing suggests there’s no single formula but some approaches land better than others. Patriotism itself is far from a risk: only 3% of Americans think brands shouldn’t celebrate the country at all, and every generation views patriotic branding positively on balance. 

But it has to feel authentic. When we asked what makes patriotic marketing land, the qualities that came out on top were feeling sincere rather than opportunistic and focusing on people and communities over national symbols. We see a similar pattern when we asked about specific patriotic images, with everyday scenes of small towns, workers and local life resonating more strongly than the flag or the bald eagle.

In fact, a brand putting a flag or an eagle in its advertising is the single weakest move overall — and it’s close to worthless with the young: under-25 year-olds rate brand flag imagery at just +2 net genuine, against +36 for over-55 year-olds.

“Great Delivery” ticks nearly every one of these boxes: it centers the workers and communities behind the beer rather than symbols alone and carries the credibility of a 150th anniversary landing in the same year as America’s 250th.

“Great Delivery” is the summer centerpiece of Budweiser’s Made of America platform, the brand’s biggest patriotic push in years and one built around a rare double milestone: Budweiser’s own 150th anniversary landing in the same year as America’s 250th birthday. 

Created by agency Anomaly, the platform launched with the brand’s Super Bowl LX spot “American Icons” and runs through the summer, and with both anniversaries landing at once, it's the perfect moment for Budweiser to remind everyone just how American it is.

As Todd Allen, SVP of Marketing for Budweiser, put it: “From the farmers and brewers to the drivers and communities we serve, Budweiser has always been about the people and the moments celebrated over our iconic high-quality American Classic Lager.”

The bet on patriotism runs right through the campaign’s activations. To mark the holiday, Budweiser offered Americans a free beer — and demand was high enough that the brand’s initial $150,000 budget ran dry almost immediately, prompting it to add a further $100,000.

This ad delivers on nearly every front! It scored well above the average US ad for both its ability to drive short-term sales and long-term brand equity (Sales Impact: 81, Brand Impact: 83) — a result that speaks to just how well an openly patriotic ad can land when it’s built on the right foundations.

The ad is highly distinctive, beating the norm on every reach metric we measure (Ad Distinctiveness: 4.2 vs. 3.7 norm; Claimed Attention: 4.3 vs. 3.9 norm; Brand Distinctiveness: 4.0 vs. 3.7 norm; Uniqueness of Brand Impressions: 4.3 vs. 3.9 norm).

“Great Delivery” cuts through by fully committing to Americana — we see the Clydesdales, Route 66, the flags, the cowboys, the delivery workers — all compounding into a spot that could only come from a brand as deeply ingrained in American culture as Budweiser.

But what really stands out here are the Clydesdales. 37% of people recognized this is a Budweiser ad just by seeing the horses and 16% even named the Clydesdales themselves. Some of them said:

• The horses, from the second I saw the Clydesdales I was like this is a Budweiser ad.

• Those giant premium expensive horses are synonymous with Budweiser.

The ad also generates a powerful emotional response (Overall Emotion: 68 vs. 57 norm), with 40% saying they love it (vs. 27% norm). The American pride is clearly generating lots of love with no negative emotions, meaning the patriotism reads as authentic. 

Budweiser avoids coming across as opportunistic because of its history: 150 years of brewing in the country, the Clydesdales as a nationally recognized symbol since 1933, and a campaign built around the workers, farmers and communities who are behind the product.

The emotional resonance story of the ad comes down to three moments: Love spikes the instant the Clydesdales come out of the gate and we see the carriages. It climbs again once the American flags come into view, so the national symbols are landing just as hard as the brand’s own iconic horses. And then, after holding strong through the middle of the ad, Love spikes right back up in the final seconds as “This Bud’s for you, this Bud’s for U.S.” lands on screen — a line that ties the brand and the country together. The ad’s emotional power comes from fusing the brand with national identity!

Here’s what some of the respondents said:

• “I enjoyed the imagery and the connection to the history of America, especially with the connection of Budweiser’s 150th anniversary and America’s 250th anniversary.”

• “I love the fact that the ad tries to portray the beauty of the American people in ways that show their strength and commitment to work.”

• “The ad was unique, cheerful, energetic and patriotic.”

• “It’s a fun ad promoting community and American pride.”

The music is a creative choice that also signals the ad’s patriotic intent from the very start — Grand Funk Railroad’s “We’re an American Band” scores a Musical Appeal of 4.4 (vs. 3.8 norm).

But the true stars of resonance are the horses themselves. The Clydesdales land a Character Appeal of 4.6 (vs. 3.9 norm) — the highest resonance metric in the entire ad!

The patriotic angle comes through as credible as well. The key message — that Budweiser recognizes the people, traditions and communities that define America — landed as both clear and believable (Key Message Clarity: 4.4 vs. 4.2 norm; Key Message Believability: 4.4 vs. 4.1 norm). 

All this translates into brand meaning, with the top brand association being “celebrates American pride” (53%), followed closely by “high quality” (50%) and “rooted in tradition” (46%).

Patriotism only lands when there’s real substance behind it. Few brands have that like Budweiser — the Clydesdales, 150 years of consistency and a spot built around the workers and communities behind the beer, all in the year its own 150th meets America’s 250th.

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