Budweiser to skip Super Bowl ads, donate to vaccine awareness campaign

(Photo: Sam/Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 2.0)

For the first time in 37 years, Budweiser will not advertise during the Super Bowl. Instead, the company whose commercials have become iconic will donate $1,000,000 to the Ad Council and COVID Collaborative's Vaccine Education Initiative.

In a statement, Budweiser's VP of Marketing, Monica Rustgi said: "Like everyone else, we are eager to get people back together, reopen restaurants and bars, and be able to gather to cheers with friends and family. To do this, and to bring consumers back into neighborhood bars and restaurants that were hit exceptionally hard by the pandemic, we're stepping in to support critical awareness of the COVID-19 vaccine."

In the days leading up to Super Bowl LV, Budweiser will run a 90-second ad on digital platforms titled "Bigger Picture". Narrated by Rashida Jones, the ad aims to "champion those stories and honor the ordinary people of America doing extraordinary things."