Memorable Moments In Budweiser Clydesdales Advertising
Advertisements featuring the Budweiser Clydesdales are some of the most popular commercials in the history of television. The first commercials featuring the worldfamous eight horse hitch aired in 1956. These ads introduced the Clydesdales as the symbol of Budweiser and showed the hitch parading across an open field. In the late 1970s, the Budweiser anthem, “Here Comes the King” was used for the first time in a commercial featuring the Clydesdale hitch at Grant’s Farm, the ancestral home of the Busch family in St. Louis. This song is still played at Clydesdales appearances today. The first Clydesdales holiday commercial aired in 1976, depicting the Merrimack, N.H.based hitch returning home for the holidays on a snowy evening. The ad was updated in 1986, converted to high definition for 2008 and features the picturesque community of Woodstock, Vermont. Over the years, this commercial has become a holiday classic. Anheuser-Busch’s Super Bowl ads are perennial favorites and have dominated the various post-Super Bowl consumer and media polls for much of the past decade. The Budweiser Clydesdales have been featured in 12 Super Bowl ads (1986, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008). These ads have consistently ranked as consumer favorites according to Anheuser-Busch research and various news media surveys. o Three ads to date have ranked number one on USA TODAY’s “Ad Meter,” generally regarded as the top Super Bowl advertising consumer poll. In 1999, “Separated at Birth” told the story of two Dalmatian puppies who part ways when they’re young and then cross paths later in life. The fire truck Dalmatian looks longingly at his brother, who has the greatest job a dog could have – Budweiser Clydesdales mascot. Budweiser’s “Clydesdale Replay” ad in 2003 featured the Clydesdales playing football in the snow. This was the second Super Bowl ad in a series of three football themed ads that began in 1996. The ads are significant as the first to use the horses as actors instead of showing them only as part of the hitch. Last year, Budweiser’s “Clydesdales Team” ad featured the Budweiser Dalmatian training previously rejected Hank the Clydesdale to be part of the world-famous hitch. ###