ABSTRACT
Fleetwood Mac’s song “Landslide” plays in the background as a young farmer looks through the barred top of a stall door, admiring the newborn Clydesdale lying in wood shavings on the floor. The song continues to play as we watch the young farmer bottle-feeding the foal, leading the young horse, being playfully nudged by the yearling, playing with the young gelding in a paddock, sleeping in the stall until the Clydesdale nudges him awake. We see the horse racing along the fence line as his owner drives his pick-up on the other side, then the farmer riding in a cart pulled by the Clydesdale. As Stevie Nicks sings, “Well, I’ve been afraid of changes ’cause I’ve built my life around you,” we see the horse being led into a horse trailer. As it drives away, the farmer waving, we see the Budweiser logo on the back. Looking wistful, the farmer loops the lead rope in his hands. Three years later, according to the text on the screen, we see the same young farmer reading a newspaper, a Budweiser bottle on the table in front of him. The camera angle switches so that we can see the story he has been reading: “Budweiser Clydesdales Coming to Chicago.” We see him driving into the city, squeezing through the crowd at a parade to catch a glimpse of the Budweiser wagon. He spots and recognizes one of the lead horses. He watches it walk past, but it doesn’t look at him. He looks disappointed as he turns and heads back to his truck. And then we see the Clydesdale’s harness being removed. Immediately, it turns and looks down the street to where the farmer is walking away. The young farmer gets into his truck, still looking a little sad. He glances
in his side mirror to see the horse cantering around the corner and down the now-empty street toward him. The man gets out of his truck and jogs toward the horse, his arms outstretched to calm the runaway. As the horse nears, it slows, then stops. The farmer wraps his arms around the Clydesdale’s neck and lays his face against its shoulder, smiling. So what exactly does this (somewhat exaggerated) story of the bond between a horse and his trainer have to do with beer? Perhaps not much, other than the fact that the huge draft horses have been an iconic symbol of the Budweiser brand since 1933, when Anheuser-Busch arranged to have a six-horse Clydesdale hitch pulling a beer wagon through New York City during an event celebrating the end of Prohibition (“Budweiser Clydesdales,” n.d.). But the ad certainly did not represent wasted money for Anheuser-Busch. Within 24 hours of its first showing during the 2013 Super Bowl, the “Brotherhood” ad had become the most shared of that year’s Super Bowl commercials. Within six days, it was rated the third most shared Super Bowl commercial of all time, with 1.8 million shares and 6.5 million views. The reason, analysts said, was that while it may say little about beer, the ad produces strong positive emotions in viewers (Sanburn, 2013). In addition to sharing the ad, consumers remembered it and took action, using the company’s Twitter hashtag #clydesdales to participate in a contest to name a Clydesdale foal (Vozza, 2013). Consumers rated it the most effective of all the Super Bowl 2013 ads, according to the marketing analysis company Ace Metrics (“Budweiser Produces,” 2013). Is there anything wrong with a beer commercial producing strong, positive emotions? Some research suggests that moderate consumption of alcohol – including beer – is linked to lower rates of cardiovascular disease. Beer’s anti-oxidant content is equivalent to that of wine, and beer contains more protein and Vitamin B. (“Moderate” consumption means one drink per day for women, two for men.) Therefore, Denke argues that doctors “should be aware of the growing evidence supporting the nutritional and health benefits of moderate consumption” of beer (2000, p. 320). In addition, beer is the primary source of human exposure to the flavonoid xanthohumol, described in laboratory studies as a broad-spectrum cancer preventative, and a related compound, 8-prenylnaringenin, which is “the most potent phytoestrogen known to date” (Stevens & Page, 2004, p. 1317), and could be useful in cancer prevention and treatment of menopausal “hot flashes” and osteoporosis.
