MillerCoors sues Anheuser-Busch over Super Bowl ‘corn syrup’ ads
The brewers have gone beyond good-natured jabs to slamming each other, and Miller now says its rival went too far. Will the lawsuit help it win back customers? How about a glowing tap?
In true football fashion, Bud Light hit its rivals hard. Now one competitor is hitting back—in court.
The Super Bowl campaign from Bud Light’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch, was one of the few highlights of a dull night of ads.
However, rival beer-maker MillerCoors did not see the ad campaign as being in great taste. It alleges in a lawsuit that the spots were deliberately misleading and diluted the company’s trademark.
Anheuser-Busch flatly denies that it misled consumers.
Bud Light’s ads during Super Bowl LIII touted the fact that the beer is sweetened with rice rather than corn syrup. And they took jabs at its competitors.
In the first ad, the Bud Light King, Bud Knight and others are trying to figure out what to do with a corn syrup barrel that was delivered to them by mistake. They set out to the Miller Lite castle to see if the barrel belongs there, but the castle had already received its delivery of corn syrup. Finally, they make it to the Coors Light castle whose occupants have been looking for their corn syrup barrel.
Become a Ragan Insider member to read this article and all other archived content.
Sign up today
Already a member? Log in here.
Learn more about Ragan Insider.
