The Budweiser "Real American Hero" ads radio have become intertwined with the relaxed NFL football Sundays of the fall. The beauty of the ads is that they are hooking their audience while making fun of them at the same time. The long-running campaign clearly targets the middle-aged, probably suburban male population who spend their afternoons imagining they are the ones playing there out on the field.
Taking advantage of this wishful thinking and this ideal of being a real man, Budweiser has an announcer with a very masculine, "down-home" American voice, narrating how other men are heroes in their daily lives. However, they choose examples that are purposely unmanly, mundane examples like "Mr. Supermarket Deli Meat Slicer". The contrast between the macho execution of the ad and the heroes is deliciously funny in an absurd way, made even more so by the background singer who is trying to cram far too many descriptive words in the short breaks in the narration.
Yet despite their spoof of the male archetype, these ads still leave the listeners equating Budweiser with manliness, as if we don't mind the narrator making fun of "us" since he's clearly one of us. I have a hunch that Budweiser is only able to get this message across because their ads are both memorable and only on during NFL games, so whenever we hear the ads, we think about football. Its well-placed timing is probably more key than the content of the ads; that being said, I know a lot of people who listen to football games on the radio who look forward to hearing the new Budweiser "manly ads. I think this is prime example of how limiting the exposure of an ad campaign can actually help it out by creating a sense of mystery and anticipation.
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