Budweiser beer was introduced in 1876 by Adolphus Busch and is manufactured by the company Anheuser-Busch. Budweiser has come to be known as one of the highest-selling, most popular beers, not only in the United States, but all over the world as well. Since its foundation in the 1800's, Budweiser has come out with many variations of its beer including Bud Light, Bud Light Lime, and the most recent one, Bud Light Platinum. A Budweiser is a 5.0% abv lager, whereas a Bud Light is only 4.2%. Along with their production of beer, Budweiser is also quite known for their commercials used to advertise their products. The company occasionally takes a comedic approach to their commercials, as seen in the following two starring Carlos Mencia. These Bud Light commercials were aired in the Super Bowl of 2007.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=670X2MCWzK0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxA-77FLLP8
These two commercials definitely use comedy as their main approach to try and reach the audience of responsible drinkers. Along with being funny, they exhibit something else which is quite interesting. They use different ethnic accents and cultural backgrounds to showcase the humor. In the first video, Carlos Mencia is teaching a class of immigrants from other nations the proper way to ask for a Bud Light in different regions of the United States, since the U.S. has subcultures present in multiple areas. He teaches them the most important rule which is to act like you don't know English if someone asks the men for a Bud Light. In the second commercial, Carlos is hanging out with his immigrant friends at a bar or night club. He wants them to mingle, and gets them to go by telling them all Americans love men with an accent. As shown, the men don't fare very well with the woman as many of the things they say are stereotypical of their backgrounds. The approach is meant to be funny, and some people may become offended by the ethnic associations, but that was the point of the commercials in the first place. They were meant to be funny with cultural influences.
It can be seen through this commercial that many companies are using cultural influences in order to appeal to a large group of people. The comic relief also involved in this commercial makes it enjoyable to watch by many different audiences. This commercial helps the community to realize that Bud Light brings along a fun time and can be enjoyed by many different cultures and backgrounds. It is a beer for everyone, even for those who have a hard time speaking English. However, it can also be noted by some people that instead of humor, this commercial has cultural stereotypes or racial undertones in it. This topic can easily be left open for discussion. It seems that the choice is up to you.
I feel that these commercials are very racially heated, and yes they're trying to be funny, but I personally don't find them funny at all. They're just stupid and harsh. They definetly could've done better commercials that didn't have as many stereotypes or racial undertones.
ReplyDeleteThere was a bit of racial tension in both commercials. I definitely agree with the blog in the fact that it says the commercials were meant to be comedic, but I think that's a bit messed up. I don't really like the fact that companies are using cultural differences as a funny way to promote their product. If it was Bud Light's plan to appeal to other cultures with this commercial, I don't believe that it did a very good job. I highly doubt that this commercial would be shown in the countries of the people that were in the commercial. It would most likely be looked down upon by those people because of the tension that is present in it. Hopefully things like these don't catch on because even though they're meant to be funny, they really don't give the company who is using this type of advertisement a good name.
ReplyDeleteMany companies try to make their products known by pushing boundries and I think these commercials went alittle to far with the sterotyping. They could have addressed different cultures in a different way and still had an effective commercial. I think this commercial would only be shown in the US because of the sterotyping and agreeing with Brock's comment.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the post and previous comments that this blog, while attempting to be funny could be taken offensively. Budweiser's use of racial stereotypes was taken a bit too far. The company didn't just use different cultures but used extreme stereotypes with people who seemed literally clueless to American culture. While I think Budweiser did a decent job advertising their product, they could have done it in a much more tasteful way. While I'm sure people found it funny, there is no doubt that a lot of people would have also found it offensive. Budweiser definitely could have toned down the racial undertones and would have had a much more successful, less offensive commercial.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that Budweiser took this approach to market their product. While it may be comedic, the commercial is very heavily stereotyping groups and could be offensive to certain people. I personally do not have an issue with either commercial, but I could see how many people could be deterred from buying their product due to the offensive material within the advertisement.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the previous comments and the blog that these two commercials can be taken offensively. Not only is there racial tension but there is also sexism within the commercial. The racism element is the main issue, yet the undertones of sexism in second commercial can be easily seen in the last few seconds of the ad.
ReplyDeleteI did enjoy the fact that the first commercial was attempting to show the immigrants the different parts of the US. I feel as if it over generalized and stereotyped the well-known cities of Los Angeles, New York, and the south.
Bud Light could have come up with a more tasteful advertisement than this. It plays off a lot of tension that could be taken extremely offensively and crosses several lines with these stereotypical comments. The commercial wasn't very successful with marketing their product. It mentions the name, but the viewer is more focused on the racial tension.
I agree with the previous posts that the commercials, though funny, are very offensive to some people. There was a lot of everything bad in the commercial like, racism, stereotypes, and sexism. I think the company had a good idea of making the ad comical, but I think they chose the wrong way to go about making it funny. They could have come up with other ways to reach out and attract the audience to their product. I think people get racial tension out of the commercial over their actual product.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the above posts. the commercials could be very offensive to some people. Though Budweiser tried to take a comical approach to the commercial it still comes off very racist by using stereotypes. The commercial made me laugh but it didn't stop me from thinking of just how racist it actually is. Budwieser probably could've toned down the racism but overall it probably would've decreased the comical effect. Budweiser should have made a different kind of commercial to get the attention of the viewers rather then the two stereotypical racist ones we viewed.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the comments on this blog. I too believe that Budweiser is trying to be funny instead of racist. Some would say that it definitely crosses the line with racial stereotypes. I also think that Budweiser kept that in mind. That is why they used immigrants from all around the world instead of just one race. They used stereotypes from South Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Russia. Also, I think that the Budweiser commercial used Carlos Mencia because he also uses stereotypes in his TV show. I think they did this to take the heat off of them and put it on him instead.
ReplyDeleteThe general consensus of the above comments seems to be that although this commercial is funny, it could be offensive to some people. I agree some people could take offense to it, however, I do not think they should. The main stereotypes that are explored in this commercial have to do with accents and not speaking English. I do not see anything wrong with that. It should not be offensive that an immigrant coming to the country might have an accent or may not speak English very well.
ReplyDeleteIf you really read into the commercial you might say it fed in to some racial stereotypes, but I didn't, I just thought it was really funny. I liked the first one better, but the ending to the second one was HILARIOUS with the Nordic man talking about being a sandwich. I agree with your statement in saying that Bud Light is a beer that can be enjoyed by anyone, and this commercial is simply expressing that. I really liked how they used immigrants in their ad...usually when immigrants are shown on tv it's in a negative way. Also, I really like how they used a man from Sweden in the commercial. You really never hear about Nordic immigrants, that might be a totally random statement, but I think their culture is so interesting.
ReplyDeleteThese commercials are obviously racially driven. The stereotypes used are very americanized stereotypes, and I'm not sure the commercials would make sense if aired in another country. I don't think Budweiser crossed any lines though. These stereotypes are used everyday, so i don't think americans would think much of the racial discrimination. Also, racial slurs are often used in comedy and these commercials use it well.
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ReplyDeleteI agree this commercial emphasizes every person likes Bud Light regardless of his cultural background. It tries to appeal to people from different ethnics. As adding humor into the commercial, it is very interesting and funny so it can attract people's eyes. It is also short so it is not boring. When companies use this type of issues related with cultural backgrounds, some people can feel the commercial has cultural stereotypes. However, I think this commercial which is very humorous and funny makes people not think that it has cultural stereotypes. Almost all people can think that it is just commercial about beers and it is very interesting.
ReplyDeleteI would have to say that yes these ads are offensive but you have to look at who is the main actor, Carlos Mencia. He is funny because he touches on topics that are on that border line of whats ok and whats not ok to say. That is how he gets his laughs. If you watch his stand-up routines he makes fun of his racial background and many more. I think if looked at from that light, then yea, these ads do have some pretty funny moments.
ReplyDeleteAlex Weber
I think this commercial is less offensive because it makes humorous jokes about different cultures accents, but it also makes jokes about different American accents as well. It is racially driven for humor but not in a negative way. I believe this commercial was successful because racial humor is funny to many Americans even if it could be taken slightly offensive.
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