In March 1982, Anheuser-Busch rolled out its new Bud Light in 40 states.
At the time, in 1984, “Budweiser Light” was in a losing battle with Lite Beer from Miller. Miller had beaten A-B to market by four years (Miller launched Lite in 1973 while A-B’s first light offering was Natural Light in 1977), and the success of Lite had propelled the Milwaukee brewer from also-ran status to A-B’s most serious challenger.
Budweiser Light was being pitched with a “Bring out your best” campaign from Needham (the current DDB Worldwide) that offered imagery of unknown athletes overcoming insurmountable odds.
A-B execs still marvel at that campaign’s lush cinematography. However, Jack MacDonough, then vice president of brand management at A-B, recalls, “It sold more Budweiser than Budweiser Light.”
After an initial spike, the Budweiser Light brand began to drop like a shot glass in a beer mug. See The Making of Bud Light from Sportsbusinessdaily.com to know more about the history of Budweiser Light.