Anheuser knows better than anyone that when it comes to food and beverage preference, taste is often not the deciding factor for consumers. A big part of it has to do with memory. People like to eat and drink things that help them relive fond memories. Recollecting your youth is something many people enjoy. If at age 22, the beer you found yourself drinking with your buddies at college graduation was Budweiser, you may still be reaching for one thirty years down the line. Oh, the glory days. Don’t be surprised if this works.

Side note: Oddly enough, I moved into a new apartment recently and the previous tenant left a twelve pack of Budweiser in the fridge. Well, I can tell you from experience, Budweiser definitely tastes better when it’s free : )

I agree with Andrews comment to a certain extent, but one freebie will do little to change the fact than A-B is struggling and will continue to do so. This gimmick is just a blip on the radar, and if it sways a few drinkers from coors or miller, good for them. Still doesn’t change the fact that they are fighting with each other over a slowly shrinking market.

I think if that’s the case, then Anheuser’s also banking that a lot of 21 year olds haven’t had at least two years of sketchy underaged experiences with liquor, particularly beer. On a whole, getting from a free bud at a college bar in September isn’t going to make the jump to drinking it on graduation day in May. I’m of the opinion that connecting free drinks with memory only works when there’s a memory to begin with: give out the Bud on graduation day instead of hope you’ll have people hooked all year.

That said, I agree with your side note. Went to a festival on Saturday where they were selling 9-20 dollar drinks, including 8$ bottles of bud. The concert was fabulous, and if someone would have pushed a free bottle of A-B into my hands, it would have tasted amazing.

I think we just gave away the secret. Forget Facebook. They should be handing out the free booze at graduation! : ) lol

I’m sure parents would absolutely love the budweiser toast after the graduation ceremony.

Hi Jon,

Thanks for commenting. It’s the same marketing approach employed by Big Tobacco before laws became more stringent – Get em while they’re young. Heck, McDonald’s does it. The younger you introduce your product to a consumer, the more likely you are to shape his or her tastes.

In the article, Lydia cites AB found that 40% of young drinkers have never even tasted Budweiser. If they can get that 40% to try their product for the first time at 22 years of age, you can bet they will capture a percentage of that market regardless of what it tastes like. Plus, let’s not underestimate AB’s ability to appeal to young males by creating the young male fantasy in all advertising they do. The day they give out the beer, they’ll probably be throwing a some kind of BBQ with girls in bikinis on motorcycles.

The young male fantasy is really, overwhelmingly central to how most macrobreweries/distilleries give out free drinks, and get attention from 20-somethings. That said, it is a very cautious line to walk, and it can easily become far too kitsch to be taken seriously.

On one hand, I agree with you, but on the other hand, I think the gimmick could siphon off a lot of Yeungling or Natty ice drinkers, even if they don’t get the attention of stone or dogfish drinkers. In that way, I think they’re likely targeting young drinkers who are fans of the thirty rack instead of one-and-done 22 drinkers. Still, I don’t hold out much hope.

I’d be curious to find out what percentage of 21-27 year old drinkers would be categorized as “craft beer drinkers.”

Is Budweiser taken seriously by anyone? Even their biggest consumers? I admit, in college I drank those macro beers and we had little respect for them even then.

Not a bad idea–if only I liked Bud. It’s not going to put the craft beers out of business, that’s for sure.

Hey Lydia,

Too bad I’m under 18, would definitely get in on this. That’s a great promotion by Bud..