Does Budweiser deserve the praise for offering Super Bowl ad to COVID vaccine efforts?

On the “Today Show” this morning, Budweiser’s vice president of marketing chatted through the brand’s decision to not run a Super Bowl ad for the first time since the early 1980s.

The decision to not do so and instead reallocate those funds to raise vaccine awareness is a welcome development. With more than 400,000 dead and tens of millions infected from the novel coronavirus, corporations like Budweiser are acting responsibly and thinking much more broadly about the value they deliver, not only to customers and shareholders, but to society at large.

The question is not whether the move is the right thing to do. Undoubtedly it is. But does Budweiser deserve the widespread news media praise for what, on its face, seems like a simple decision? In a word: No.

In 2020, the average media buy for a 30-second Super Bowl ad approached nearly $6 million. Add to the mix production costs, agency fees, licensing, and other campaign elements, and organizations are looking at a substantial amount of money. Under normal circumstances, such an enormous expenditure and the associated ROI is open to debate. Under our current circumstances, there isn’t much of a debate.