Budweiser will be changing its name to “America.” The Belgian-owned beer brand will only take on the new name temporarily to encourage nationalism.
Notable Branding Changes In Budweiser
The change was spurred by several upcoming summer events. The following months will feature traditional spring and summer holidays, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Indepndence Day, the 2016 Olympics, the Copa America soccer tournament, and the Invictus Games, among others.
The “Budweiser” on bottles, cans and other forms of packaging will temporarily be substituted by “America” beginning on May 23 until the general election in November 2016. Aside from the new “America” rebranding, the beer’s slogan, “King of Beers,” will also be replaced with “E Pluribus Unum,” which means “Out of many, one.”
Previously, the top of Budweiser beer cans described the brewing process. The recent change will instead feature lyrics to the U.S. anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Other cans also featured text from the “Pledge of Allegiance” and “America the Beautiful.”
Other notable changes include the statement “The World Renowned” being altered to “Land of the Free,” and “Anheuser-Busch, Inc.” being changed to “Liberty & Justice For All.” Even minor words like “Trademark” and “Registered” were replaced by “Indivisible” and “Since 1776,” respectively.
One element that remained in the original design was the bow tie logo on the back of the can. Jones Knowles Ritchie was the designer of the new branding effort, which has offices in New York, London, Singapore and Shanghai.
Budweiser Now As Iconic as America
“We thought nothing was more iconic than Budweiser and nothing as more iconic than America,” creative director Tosh Hall said in a report by FastCo.Design. Budweiser is one of the top beer companies in the United States. Its St. Louis-based owner, Anheuser-Busch, was bought by InBev in 2008.
The company has recently been spending huge on advertising. Most likely, the recent effort is attempting to package Budweiser as the most American and patriotic beer in the country.
The New York Times revealed that according to Budweiser vice president Ricardo Marques, it will be the most American summer of our generation. Marques added that consumers will still easily recognize the brand. The company further hopes that the advertising effort will be more successful than its “Up for Whatever” campaign.
In 2015, Budweiser printed the slogan “The perfect beer for removing ‘no’ from your vocabulary for the night,” which drew the ire of several people. The company has since apologized and removed the statement on its labels.
