SKYY Vodka is an American Spirits brand under the Gruppo Campari name, a well-known player in the global spirits industry. Their products include brands such as SKYY, Aperol, Appleton Estate, Campari, Wild Turkey, and Grand Manier. The Campari name was founded in 1860 and now is one of the top six major spirit industries in the world, trading with over 190 nations around the globe, owning 18 plants worldwide, and local distribution in 20 countries. This company aims to “combine organic growth through strong brand building and external growth via selective acquisitions of brands and businesses” (http://www.camparigroup.com). Relating to the people and what they most desire is a big tactic in spirit advertisement which can be seen through their missions and goals.   

Although Campari has many brands underneath their belt, the one I have decided to focus on today is SKYY Vodka because of their branding technique of sexualizing their advertisements which can be clearly seen in the advertainment of their SKYY Infusions Cherry Vodka above. This specific brand was founded in 1992 by entrepreneur and investor, Maurice Kanbar who then changed the spirits industry with SKYY’s quadruple-distillation and triple-filtration process. Distilled in the American Midwest, SKYY became the leading super premium of Vodkas and now annually sells 2.5 million cases globally. This Vodka quickly started to stand out from the crowd when their signature cobalt blue bottle was introduced a year after its appearance in 1993 and over the course of a decade, three photographers have created the brand that is SKYY. A visual communication that allures to the perfect ‘cocktail moment’, and now print advertisement that uniquely captures this brands exotic and glamourous personality.   

SKYY, combined with Campari has stated that their values include: Passion, Integrity, Pragmatism, and Together. They are PASSIONATE about their industry and providing the best experience for their customers and consumers and go that extra mile when necessary. They have INTEGRITY in ensuring that fairness, honesty, and consistency, is their hallmarks of business transactions. PRAGMATISM is problem solving through all levels of business. They are TOGETHER in functionality, working with passion to avoid silos, proactively breaking any cultural, organizational and geographical barriers, and working cross-functionally to move in the same direction to reach everyone’s shared dream. 

Now knowing the behind the scenes business aspects of SKYY and the Campari brand it is easy to understand the intended audience for this spirit. Like sated before, SKYY Vodka aims to have their brand be classified in an exotic yet elegant demeanor with a glamourous personality that touches on the riske. All of these characteristics combined are clearly aimed towards an audience of young successful people. In their advertisement, SKYY wants to show the elegance and grace of drinking their vodka along with the sex appeal of it too. Many of their ad’s are depicted in a sexual manner that often involve the sexualization of both men and women, even having multiple ad’s that show one man with two women. These sexualized advertisements can be mostly found in print magazines while their commercials can be found on TV during programs such as the super bowl, a time when people are most likely drinking and in an influenced state. Although their TV commercials are more focused on the elegance of drinking their vodka instead of the sexiness of it.   

In the advertisement I attached above, I pulled from their print collection which is all highly sexually suggestive in manner. In this one specifically, they are advertising their new SKYY Vodka Infusions Line Cherry. You are able to see the well-known cobalt blue bottle in the center with two female profiles off to each side, they both have a cherry in their mouth with the stems still connected lined up in the center of the bottle and a tagline of “Go Natural”. All of these elements combined leads to an effective sexually suggestive advertisement. The bottle being the shaft of a penis and the cherries being two testicles, if being blunt. This is only one of many SKYY Vodka print ads that have sexually charged pictures on them. Others include grape vines being used as restraints, half naked women in sexual poses, men surrounded by women, women dominating men, etc. If you would like to look at them all, I highly suggest checking out http://www.survnow.com/blog/the-13-sexiest-skyy-vodka-advertisements/ to see the actual pictures of what I mentioned. All of these advertisements are intended to grab the attention of young professionals because their use of sexually charged material and additional use of professionalism which generally is used to target a younger audience that can be more influenced into buying their product. According to the Journal of Public Policy and Marketing;

“A review of the neuroscience, psychology and marketing literatures concluded that adolescents, because of how the human brain develops, may be particularly attracted to branded products such as alcohol that are associated with risky behavior and that provide, in their view, immediate gratification, thrills and/or social status.” (C. Pechmann) 

The ad’s SKYY releases show this use of risky behavior in a sexual way and show the pleasure of what is achieved when drinking their spirit. This tactic is aimed towards the young and influenced.  

Now, you’re probably wondering why is this product advertised in such a way that aims to attract its viewers even though this product is considered a drug and only legal to those over the age of 21 in the United States. Well, truth behold, the alcohol industry is primarily focused on getting their consumers hooked and wanting to buy more, but what YOU as the consumer don’t know is the real story behind the process of making this addictive substance.  

Based on Livescience.com, Vodka fermentation is a process that has been around since the medieval times and now approximately 1.2 billion gallons is downed each year from consumers which makes it the world’s most popular spirit. Vodka is made through the fermentation of grains, potatoes, fruits, or just plain sugar…literally any foods that contain starches or sugars. While the fermentation creates a product that is only 16% Alcohol By Volume or ABV which is a relatively low percentage, the vapor the fermentation process creates gives off a product that is 30-40% ABV giving us what we know as Vodka!  

When consuming alcohol this drug is quickly dispelled into the bloodstream, with 80% of it getting absorbed through your small intestines and 20% through your stomach (science.howstuffworks.com) the feel-good chemical known as endorphins, which are linked to the reward centers of your brain are released and many consumers often experience feeling of euphoria, excitement, sometimes confusion, and stupor when your Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) increases. This feeling that I am describing is what we know as being “drunk” which can sometimes be a destructive thing. Those feel good chemicals can become highly addictive if alcohol consumption is abused which can lead to addiction, health problems such as liver disease, and the destruction of your family. These are all the things alcohol advertisements do not want to tell you about because it would destroy their industry. What SKYY doesn’t advertise is the adverse effects of long term consumption of their product and the ugly truth behind what drinking alcohol does to the insides of your body. 

In the SKYY Vodka advertisements, they use multiple techniques to draw in their consumers “to the dark side” such as distorted presentations, intriguing visual imagery, amped up usage of what it’s like to drink their product, sexual innuendos, and more all to grab the attention of the viewer with the hopes of turning that viewer into a consumer. These tactics are all very deceptive now that you know the true effects of alcohol and how it created. These companies such as SKYY are looking to keep those issues on the hush hush because it is bad for business to advertise the negative effects of their product, just like any other product out there. If there is a chance that their product harms their buyers and consumers then why would you advertise that to the public?  

Now the final question is, is whether or not I would recommend this drug to someone…and the answer is yes, but each patron that decides to use this drug should be aware of its effects and what it can do to the body and mind just like every other drug out there. Be well informed of what you are using and know the right amount you can consume based on your body size and weight. Do your research before doing anything you are unsure of and know the facts! But also, and most importantly be safe and have fun! 🙂 

Best,  

Skyler Caldwell-Olsen  

References: 

“About.” SKYY Vodka, www.skyy.com/about/. 

“Our Mission and Values.” Our Mission and Values | Campari Corporate, www.camparigroup.com/en/our-group/our-group/mission-and-values. 

Surv. “The 13 Sexiest Skyy Vodka Advertisements.” SURV, 19 Dec. 2014, www.survnow.com/blog/the-13-sexiest-skyy-vodka-advertisements/. 

C. Pechmann, L. Levine, et al., “Impulsive and self-conscious: Adolescents’ vulnerability to advertising and promotion,” Journal of Public Policy and Marketing24(2005): 202-221. 

Dhar, Michael. “What Is Vodka?” LiveScience, Purch, 18 Nov. 2013, www.livescience.com/41298-what-is-vodka.html. 

Boyles, Salynn. “Why Is Alcohol Addictive? Study Offers Clues.” WebMD, WebMD, 11 Jan. 2012, www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/news/20120111/study-sheds-more-light-on-why-some-get-alcoholism#1. 

“What Makes Alcohol So Addictive? | Rehab International | Drug & Alcohol Rehab Guides.”Rehab International, rehab-international.org/blog/what-makes-alcohol-so-addictive. 

Freudenrich, Ph.D. Craig. “How Alcohol Works.” HowStuffWorks Science, HowStuffWorks, 21 Dec. 2000, science.howstuffworks.com/alcohol.htm. 

When you first look at a poster ad, commercial, or social media post, there is going to a small font written as, “Drink Responsibility.” The advertisements for alcohol have guidelines although there are many ways of bending these guidelines. When listening or observing an advertisement promoting alcohol “Drink Responsible” are written in a small font or narrated really fast. While learning about products or understanding how this will affect myself mentally, spiritually, and physically is through repetition. When advertisements promote themselves the focus is not about the negative health effects but rather the positive outcomes of the substance. Large companies have employees whom specialize in psychology marketing which target a specific area in the brain known as the Amygdala and targets the audience to function this area of the brain.

For many different cultures and demographics alcohol has different perspective for the consumptions of alcohol. From an Native American perspective, alcohol is seen as a drug that is abuse very often and it has been used a coping method for people. Today, many people have experience their immune systems and the consumption of foreign substances has an impact within their themselves. Due to the ingredients their past ancestors did not have the chemical impact within their immune system. For example the cultural difference between the consumption of alcohol has a different meaning for the Irish people and Native American people. For example Native Americans have certain plants which are used medicinally for cultural reason though from an outside perspective it is seen as a hallucinating drug which could be considered illicit drug.

In this Mount Rainer ad, is a man enjoying a scenic cruise on his motorcycle while traveling to Mount Rainer. Along with the background voice of someone going along with the motorcycle engine, “Mount Rainerrr.” There is not a message that depicts alcohol but it’s a feeling visual effect of the alcohol. In society Alcohol is a form of relaxation and a social activity. For example, imagine yourself at a barbeque enjoying a local beer then the next season would be the same idea but snowboarding or skiing with your friends. Alcohol advertisements create the idea of drinking their product will make enhance the life if you should consume their product. In this specific Mount Rainer Beer commercial was an ad of enjoyment of the view without advertising the beverage itself. If someone were to watch it, they would idolize the man on the bike and think wonderful how his life lifestyle is. In this blog, alcohol is an licit drug which many people enjoy throughout the world.

In various countries, you could be 16, 18, or 19 to enjoy an alcoholic beverage as a form of relaxation or being social with friends. The demographic Mount Rainer beer advertises toward is local consumers, colleges students (i.e. cheap beer), “mountaineers” or in general the state of Washington. When tourist visit the state of Washington along with the experiencing the rainy weather they many locals would states enjoying a local brewed beer would be an experience. The tourism of alcohol not only exists in the Pacific Northwest but is it throughout the United States. Each state is know for being uniquely different Utah, the Great Salt Lake and New Mexico is known for being the Land of Enchantment.

When you think of the Pacific Northwest there are many ways people see it. From tall evergreens trees, rain, mountains, mountain towns, and the abundance of water. Majority of the people who live and originate from the Pacific Northwest will always call it home. For example, each demographic has a representation of what makes them unique and how they represent themselves that promotes who they are and where they come from. On the Mount Rainer Beer website of has main tabs of how, when, and where Mount Rainer Beers’ originate from, “Rainer Beer brings together nature’s bounty from the great Northwest.” The audience they are capturing is sense of community and being outdoors.

http://rainierbeer.com/#products

Mount Rainer Beer began in Seattle Washington, along with being the first commercial brewing company on 1854, that is over 150 years ago! Though now the main head quarters and facility is in Irwindale, California. The website recognizes the history but will provide you the nearest store stocked with the alcohol beverage by entering your zip code. The Mount Rainer Beer Company emphasizes responsibility as, “Safe Times Make Great Times” specifically their four main ideas of what it means to be safe is:

1. Share the Responsibility.
2. Look out for yourself.
3. Take care of others.
4. Get help if you need it.

The intentions of the licit drug is supportive for making sure responsibility plays an important role while consuming the beverage along with a list of resources about the consumption of alcohol for various communities. Further promoting the beer has also gained popularity through making it to play in multimillion-dollar movies such as the Twilight saga, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn (Part I and II).

The Mount Rainer Beer Company will be happy to have any type of promotion that will encourage people to buy the product from celebrities and/or social media. This would completely encourage the audience to go out and buy the product because there is a celebrity in the commercial. Many alcohol companies spend millions of dollars to ensure their advertisements are to promote celebrities, sex, and money. In the advertising industry many companies captures the audience through the term known as, “Sex Sells.” Through social media such as Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat or Twitter majority of the product has influenced the audience’s interpretation. In the following photo, are two bottles upside down clearly advertised as a sexual reference that promotes sex and alcohol. Markets have stated, “The celebrities, the scenery, sex sells (largest promoting in the industry), humor, actually, it is one of the strongest and most effective selling tools. The relationship between sex and marketing is a winning combination for almost any business. However, if you don’t know how to use it you ‘re risking putting off your potential customers” (2014, Kay).

The next commercial is a man and woman drinking a bottle of alcohol in a sexual manner that can impact the audience of the lifestyle the couple has experienced.

There is a part of the brain known as Amygdala’s which functions our primitive instincts fear, hunger, and arousal or in physcology marketing they call it the lizard brain. The Amygdala is humans also play a role in sexual activity and libido. The Amygdala is to function as a interpreter to react and if a alcohol advertisement promotes sex that will stimulate the brain with the result of the audience interpret their libido. In psychology marketing, “tapping into your audience’s paint points, appeal to their innate selfishness, demonstrate importance through contrast, emphasize value tangibility, focus on beginning and end, us a visual metaphor, and strike an emotional cord” (2014, Kay). For example in the Jim Beam commercial the woman pouring liquor into her and another man’s month, there is a sexual tension.

Overall social drinking has been a rare act to see growing up within my own community. If I were to recommend a type of alcohol would solely depend on the person. I could not if it were to enable or continue to hurt someone I truly cared about although it is a difficult situation to understand one’s perspective on alcohol.

References

Rainier Beer’s Official Site. (2007, November 4). Retrieved November 08, 2017, from http://rainierbeer.com/terms-and-conditions

Says, M. P., Says, H. H., Says, V., Says, C., Says, R. K., Says, V. N., . . . Says, B. S. (2017, September 09). The Reptilian Brain: 7 Ways to Engage Your Customer’s Inner Lizard. Retrieved November 08, 2017, from https://www.neurosciencemarketing.com/blog/articles/reptilian-brain-2.htm#

I will go on in further detail as to why I picked this ad in particular, but if you search up “Mike’s Hard Lemonade commercials” on Youtube, you will see that this was one of the only class-appropriate advertisements that this company had to offer. Their print ads are mostly consisted of their signature bright yellow, the title of their company in a lemon, and a catchy slogan that makes one think that only good times will come after they have this refreshing, fruity beverage. We will see throughout this blog that this is not the case.

To start this blog off, I am going to be painting you a little picture that is a memory from my childhood. Now I know that many of us as children often saw our parents drink the casual beer or glass of wine with dinner, my parents loved their red wine and as a child I wondered why they would drink the same thing every night. So as the curious child I was, when they were not looking I would sneak a sip, they would know I did it, and more so they would know that I would have the look of disgust on my face as they turned around. Parents do not really worry about kids drinking at such a young age because our taste buds have not matured yet and we can not really handle the “refined taste” of wine or even beer.

Fast-forward a year or two and I remember being at our outside dining table, eating dinner on a hot summer day, and my parents had something other than wine or beer at the dinner table. What was it? It was a translucent yellow liquid in a beer-like bottle with the words “Mike’s Hard Lemonade” on it. My 11 year old brain jumped at the idea of some fresh lemonade at dinner (I was only allowed to have water at meals), so I asked if I could try it and they said  “sure”, expecting me to be utterly disgusted like with their other “adult beverages”. I took my first sip and a fruity and fresh taste hit my lips, I kept drinking and could have drank the whole bottle if my mother had not yanked it away from me saying “Corinne, this is not a drink for you!” It was not until then I realized that it was actually alcoholic. I do not think I’m the only one who had this experience at a young age, because this drink in my opinion, is advertised towards young people, and there inlies the problem.

To give you a little bit of background about the alcohol I will be doing my blog on, Mike’s Hard Lemonade was first introduced in Canada in 1996, it started out as a mixture of malt liquor, natural flavors and carbonated water. Mikes hit the markets in the United States in April 1999 and it changed to a mix of lemonade flavor and an unflavored malt liquor base, due to differing tax and beverage laws. (Mike’s Hard Lemonade Co.) The company was founded in 1999 by Anthony von Madl. The company it’s headquarters from Colorado to right here in Seattle in 2005 to be closer to it’s parent company (Mark Anthony Group Inc. in Vancouver B.C.)  Just recently in 2013, the headquarters moved again, this time to Chicago.

When Mike’s hit the markets in the US, they changed the recipe because of the popularity of FMB, according to the Forbes website, Ronald Holden wrote in 2017; “It was part of an explosive new category called FMB, flavored malt beverages, which originated in the 1990s. Producers realized that a malt-based beverage, regardless of flavor, was taxed at the same rate as beer, whereas wine coolers would pay double that rate and spirit-based beverages as much as ten times that rate.”

Nowadays, Mike’s Hard is one of the most diverse products on the market. Mikes Hard lemonades come in over 40 different flavors ranging from ones such as Mike’s Hard Raspberry Elderflower Lemonade, Mike’s Hard Chocolate Cherry, to Mike’s Traditional Margaritas!

Now the mastermind behind Mike’s Hard Lemonade was Anthony von Mandl, as I stated before. Von Mandl is the founder if The Mark Anthony Group, a private alcoholic beverage company in Canada, also considered the parent company of Mike’s Hard. He had his own ideas of what the main consumer of this drink would be and that becomes apparent when you watch the commercials used to advertise these products. According to Origlio Beverage in a post written in 2015, Anthony von Mandl is  quoted saying; “We found that up to 25% of guys didn’t particularly want to drink beer, but couldn’t be seen holding anything else in their hand.” So that is what prompted them to make a tasty, alcoholic beverage that wouldn’t look too girly, since it is still in a beer-shaped bottle.

We can conclude from this that their target audience has always been young men. This is pretty obvious from the content, creativity, and placement of their advertisements.  

Now in the specific ad I chose, you can see the number of sexual innuendos and crude humor instances that is involved in the commercial. Now what if I told you that this was one of the tamest commercials that I could find? If you would like, you can do your own youtube search for Mike’s Hard Lemonade commercials and be subjected to the vulgar ways of advertising that this company uses, you can not say you were not warned. . In my opinion, this company probably uses bright colors, sexual jokes and attractive, young people to pull in the youth and make their product seem like a fun thing to buy. They use the abundance of penis jokes to appeal to the immature audiences that are more likely to start drinking their drinks at a young age because they taste good and are not really considered an adult drink (e.g. whiskey,vodka, etc.) . The fact is that young (probably younger than 21) adults are the most subjected to these ads (found on youtube or tv), there are young people featured in them, they are all about sex, and the jokes are immature and definitely not very clever.

Now I will tell you, I tried my darndest to find a whole ingredients list for Mike’s Hard Lemonade but the thing just does not exist! On the Mike’s Hard Lemonade Website, it is stated; “mike’s® products are classified as beer under Federal law which does not require ingredient or nutritional labeling on beer as regulated by the Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB)”. So basically, the general public does not really know what are all the ingredients in a Mike’s hard lemonade, but the active ingredient would be considered malt liquor, it is the fermented malt grains that create the alcohol that gets one drunk. As we have learned in class, alcoholism is a huge problem in the United States, so obviously it is considered addictive. According to the 2015 NSDUH, 15.1 million adults ages 18 and older had AUD (Alcohol Use Disorder). This makes it very obvious that alcohol, especially one that tastes like candy and is very easy to binge-drink on, is very dangerous and addictive, especially when it comes to young consumers. It is also worth noting that Mike’s Hard lemonade has over 20 grams of sugar in one bottle! So Mike’s actually has two addictive substances in one, tasty bottle.

As I highlighted before, Mike’s hard lemonade uses many advertising techniques to get people interested in their product and a lot of these techniques are most likely geared toward young consumers. In the specific advertisement that I referenced in the beginning and many of their other advertisements, the attention grabber that they like to use is the sexual jokes or images, they use the word “hard” or “harder” to suggest multiple meanings in their commercials. In a shorter commercial that you can watch here

They are heavily relying on animation, bright colors and child-like, cartoony acting and imagery. There is nothing that will grab someone’s attention like sex jokes and a distorted reality that might imply that if a consumer drinks their product, their life will be full of beautiful people, sex, and giant tricycles? They also always end their commercials or even their print ads with a catchy slogan at the end such as “Drink on the bright side” or “What laughter tastes like”.

I would never recommend this drink to a friend or family member. After extensive research on this product, I can conclude that first of all, it is chalk-full of empty, sugary calories that will make one feel horrible a couple hours after drinking. Also, since it is so low in alcohol percentage, but it tastes just like regular juice, it is easy to abuse and especially easy to binge-drink for teenagers. And lastly, I make a point not to buy or endorse products that sell sex and exploit men and women to grab the attention of young people, I hope those of you reading this will feel the same after reading my blog.

Work Cited

Mike’s Hard Lemonade. (2017). FAQ. Retrieved from https://www.mikeshard.com/faq/

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. (June 2017). Alcohol Facts and Statistics. Retrieved from https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/overview-alcohol-consumption/alcohol-facts-and-statistics

Oran, Olivia. (February 2015). Mike’s Hard Lemonade Up for Sale- Sources. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mikeshard-m-a/mikes-hard-lemonade-up-for-sale-sources-idUSKBN0L820M20150204

Holden, Ronald. (May 2017). America’s Fastest Growing Beer Brand. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronaldholden/2017/05/22/americas-fastest-growing-beer-brand-mikes-hard-lemonade-to-refocus-on-25-29-year-old-males/#17bb1d524d7c

Origlio Beverage. (July 2015). Anthony von Mandl: Founder and Chairman of Mike’s Hard Lemonade Co. Retrieved from http://www.origlio.com/blog/anthony-von-mandl-founder-chairman-mike%E2%80%99s-hard-lemonade-co

By Claire Bailey & Matthew Nguyen

Alcohol is one of the most widespread and commonly used/abused drug in the world. We chose alcohol because we felt it was relevant to ourselves as college students, given the stigma behind alcohol and binge drinking in universities. We chose this specific commercial because we thought there were lots of clever strategies Bud Light used in order to glamorize alcohol and their product. It was fun, interesting and enjoyable to watch. Bud Light is such a big brand name too, we wanted to dive deeper into their purpose and understand what the company was all about. 

History

Anheuser-Busch is the original company who manufactures Budweiser, the first version of their American-style beer. Bud light is one of their products under the Budweiser brand that serves as a lower caloric beer option. Bud light first appeared on the scene after multiple failed attempts to compete with Lite Beer from Miller. Miller had launched their version of light beer in 1973, four years before Anheuser-Busch’s “Budweiser Light.” With this headstart, Miller was able to dominate the beer industry and institutionalize their product. When someone ordered a light beer in a bar without any specifications, a Lite Beer from Miller was the default beverage to serve customers (Lefton, 2007).

The “Gimme a light” bar call campaign was the game-changer for Anheuser-Busch. It consisted of ads broadcasted across radio stations with the assumption that when one ordered a light beer without specification, they were given anything but a light beer. Only when the customer specified they wanted a “Bud Light” would their request be granted with a cool refreshing Bud Light beer. The combination of humor and accessibility in their ad campaign projected sales through the roof. Anheuser-Busch continued to push their product using this leverage and the power of the big brand name “Bud Light” (Lefton, 2007).

The mission of Bud Light is to make their beer a fun, social and acceptable drink. Their target audience at the time were 21-27 year olds. They wanted to capture new drinkers and get them hooked. Bud Light is all about being with friends and family, hosting a party or enjoying a sporting event. Do not underestimate the power sports played in the success of Anheuser-Busch. Marketing executives saw the opportunity to connect people’s passions for their sports team with drinking a Bud Light. This tactic further separated the company from its competitors. They also utilized the “health conscious” movement Americans were going through in the 2000s. Emphasizing lower caloric value especially caught the attention of female drinkers (Lefton, 2007).

Bud Light is currently America’s and the world’s biggest beer brand (Lefton, 2007). The product has dominated pop culture and made itself a household item. At this point in the game, unless a new company creates something more revolutionary and fitting for the 21st century, Bud Light is untouchable.

Intended Audience

The intended audience for the Bud Light Superbowl Commercial is essentially all Americans of legal drinking age. This ad was aired during Super Bowl 50, which means lots of American football sports fans will view this commercial; possibly even people who don’t watch sports because it will be on television in the family room. Bud Light utilizes humor, celebrities, the sense of unity, America’s favorite pastimes and gender inclusion (i.e. not just males) to capture attention and make it memorable. Seth Rogen and Amy Schumer first grab the audience’s attention because they are celebrities. These comedians use humor in the ad in order to make the viewer laugh and build positive associations with Bud Light beer. Every scene includes Rogen and Schumer in some sort of gathering place where Americans thrive. For example: a bar, a construction site, a basketball game, a rodeo, New York City and a political pep rally. This helps show how Americans can come together and relate to one another. It shows that despite our differences, we are all the same type of people. A subtle tactic they used in the ad was making sure there were males and females in the crowds. This sends the message that Bud Light is for everyone (“Seth Rogen,” 2016).

Active Ingredients

Bud Light beer is specifically made with barley, rice, water, and hops. While these ingredients aren’t considered drugs by any means, the brewing process of turning these ingredients into beer creates ethanol. Ethanol, mostly known as “alcohol,” is one of the most commonly consumed psychoactive drugs in the world (Martin, J. Laura. 2016). In low doses, alcoholic drinks can cause euphoria, reduced anxiety, and increased sociability. In higher doses, however, drinks containing ethanol can cause loss of consciousness, severely impaired motor skills, sedation, loss of memory, death, and depression of the central nervous system’s ability to function. This suppression of activity in the central nervous system is caused by alcohol increasing the effect of an inhibitory neurotransmitter called y-aminobutyric acid, also known as GABA. The euphoric effects of alcohol are caused by increased dopamine levels in the brain (Lobo, I. A., & Harris, R. A. 2008).

Because alcohol is so widely available, it is very accessible, and therefore easy to get addicted to. Alcohol, because of its psychoactive effects, is addictive, and can lead to issues such as alcoholism, liver damage, birth defects, dependence, etc. Other than health issues, drinking alcohol also can lead to risky situations, such as driving while intoxicated, unsafe sex, etc. (Brust, J. C. M. 2010). According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, in 2015, 88,000 alcohol-related deaths occurred (CDC, 2016). Almost 10,000 of those deaths were due to drunk driving, which means drunk driving caused about 31% of all fatal driving accidents that year. Economically speaking, alcohol also has a literal price; in 2010, alcohol misuse cost the United States $249 billion (Sacks, J.J., Gonzales, K.R., & Bouchery, E.E. et al 2010).

Advertising Techniques

Before evaluating this commercial for its advertising techniques, we must understand the context. This commercial was made specifically for the 2016 Super Bowl, at a time when political tensions were high in the United States. This commercial tries to help ease the tension by uniting the country under one common interest: drinking cheap beer. We must also understand that because this is a commercial produced specifically to be shown during the Super Bowl, it was created with the idea that it would be seen by millions of people, as the Super Bowl is one of the most watched television programs annually. Because they understand that this advertisement would reach a lot of audiences, they didn’t limit their budget, and created a very dynamic commercial. They use a lot of advertisement techniques, such as using celebrities. Two very popular comedians, Seth Rogen and Amy Schumer, along with other actors (Michael Peña and Paul Rudd), are tools used in the advertisement as their notoriety helps sell their product (Bud Light Beer). Products and services tend to have more credibility when they show celebrities endorsing them. Beyond celebrity endorsement, the idea of unifying the country through beer is very patriotic, and patriotism also appeals to audiences as well. This idea of unity is also a part of their bandwagon advertising technique, as they are asking everyone to join their “caucus.” More simple techniques are also used, such as humor, and visual imagery. The commercial itself is very lively and energetic. The cinematography used is almost movie-like, and it gives the commercial a sense of grandeur. All of these techniques combined together have created a very strong advertisement. However, it is not entirely accurate to the actual act of drinking, as it doesn’t mention any of the effects of alcohol. The advertisement doesn’t really talk about drinking or getting drunk, it just celebrates the beer. It does not mention the short-term or long-term effects of alcohol, such as intoxication, or alcohol dependence.

Overall Opinion

Overall, after doing research on alcohol (ethanol) as a recreational drug, it’s fair to believe that alcohol can be dangerous when used irresponsibly. Because heavy alcohol use can lead to adverse effects on one’s health, such as liver damage, birth defects, dependence, and withdrawal, it shouldn’t be recommended that one drinks in excess. Binge drinking can also lead to dangerous situations such as drunk driving, and can lead to poor health after long-term use of alcohol. In extreme cases, it can even lead to death, such as the 88,000 deaths due to alcohol in 2015 (Brust, J. C. M. 2010). However, there has been studies shown that moderate alcohol use actually has health benefits. According to the NIH, moderate alcohol use may cause lowered risk for heart disease and stroke, as well as a decreased risk for diabetes (U.S. Department of Agriculture (2015). Although alcohol is okay to consume in moderation, the issue is that it is not always consumed this way, and is instead misused and abused. Binge drinking and alcoholism is all too common in our society, as most people do not understand the concept of drinking in moderation. In conclusion, we’d recommend drinking alcohol only in moderation.

Sources:

(2016). Seth Rogen ‘The Bud Light Party’ Bud Light Super Bowl 2016 TV Commercial. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYv9WbgDvN4

Brust, J. C. M. (2010). Ethanol and Cognition: Indirect Effects, Neurotoxicity and Neuroprotection: A Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 7(4), 1540–1557. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2872345/

Lefton, T. (2007). The Making of Bud Light. Sports Business Daily. http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2007/06/20070611/SBJ-In-Depth/The-Making-Of-Bud-Light.aspx

CDC (2016). Alcohol and Public Health: Alcohol-Related Disease Impact (ARDI). Average for United States 2006–2010 Alcohol-Attributable Deaths Due to Excessive Alcohol Use. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). https://nccd.cdc.gov/DPH_ARDI/Default/Report.aspx?T=AAM&P=f6d7eda7-036e-4553-9968-9b17ffad620e&R=d7a9b303-48e9-4440-bf47-070a4827e1fd&M=8E1C5233-5640-4EE8-9247-1ECA7DA325B9&F=&D=

Lobo, I. A., & Harris, R. A. (2008). GABAA receptors and alcohol. Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior, 90(1), 90–94. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2872345/

Martin, J. Laura. (2016). Alcohol use and safe drinking. Medline Plus. U.S. National Library of Medicine. https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/001944.htm

Sacks, J.J., Gonzales, K.R., & Bouchery, E.E. et al (2010) national and state costs of excessive alcohol consumption. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 49(5):e73– e79, 2015. PMID: 26477807 https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/overview-alcohol-consumption/alcohol-facts-and-statistics

U.S. Department of Agriculture (2015). Scientific Report of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, Part D. Chapter 2, Table D2.3, p. 43. https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015-scientific-report/pdfs/scientific-report-of-the-2015-dietary-guidelines-advisory-committee.pdf