Anheuser-Busch will roll out Bud Light Lime in May, backing it with a $35 million marketing campaign.
“We’re treating this as a big launch,†Dave Peacock, vice president of marketing at the company’s domestic beer subsidiary, said in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Last year A-B rival Miller Brewing introduced Miller Chill, a beer flavored with lime and salt. It was one of the year’s hottest beer product launches.
Miller’s “Brew Blog” has been predicting that A-B would counter with a product like this, and reports on it today.
Peacock said Anheuser-Busch and Miller had independently concluded that flavored beers — including ones that evoke brews popular in Latino culture — can attract a wide following.
A-B’s confidence in the product is illustrated by its decision to take it directly to a national launch without testing it in regional markets. “We can’t remember a Bud family product we didn’t put into a test market,†said Peacock.
While all sorts of flavored beer is ok, I still think wheat ales are the most balanced of the flavored beer. Problem is the majority of the public sticks to the light beers they know best.
I remember years ago when people would add a dash of Lime cordial to Lager, it was a drink mostly enjoyed by women who didn’t like the taste of beer, I always thought that a strange kind of logic. If you don’t like the taste of beer don’t drink it.
I love beer don’t get me wrong. But lime with beer is just not appealing.
A $35 million campaign may make me try it again but will I stick with it?
Nooo