1. Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Professor Nicholas Alexander for his generous support
and direction given for this dissertation study.
“Education is not filling a bucket but lighting a fire”
William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) Irish poet and dramatist
I would also like to thank Richard Godfrey for his direction and perspective
in the genesis of my dissertation.
“Not only is there an art in knowing a thing, but also a certain art in
teaching it.”
Cicero (106-43 BC); Roman orator and statesman
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2. An Exploratory Comparison of Television Advertising by Brand Leaders in Europe,
North America and the United Kingdom within the Beer Industry.
Abstract
New horizons exist for marketers attempting to build global beer brands using a trusted
medium for the industry, television commercials. Issues of market segmentation and
social mores attached to a cultural bound product such as beer provide new challenges to
beer companies that have become accustomed to dominating in their familiar markets and
relying on customarily themed messages. Global consolidation is beginning to create a
marketing battlefield that is increasingly witness to juggernauts of the beer industry
fighting for essential markets that contain different perceptions of how, where and why
beer is consumed. Flagship brands have been and will be the dominant tools to win over
market share in these new regions but understanding how these brand images will be
communicated across different market segments is a challenging task. Decipherment of
the messages and themes that connect with the consumers in different markets is the
cornerstone of successful advertising campaigns. Three of these markets, North America,
Europe and the United Kingdom have been selected for this study. Finding a balance
between the similarities and differences within these varied global markets, from the
perspective of the television commercials that communicate the brand image and
message, may be the difference between success and failure of a global brand. The
successful development of dominant brand mind share of the consumer in each regional
market will lead to the success of the dominant market share in each regional market.
Selecting the most suitable thematic messages to develop this mind share successfully
will rely on reflecting what successful beer brands have executed, in the form of
television commercials, in the past. This study will address what thematic messages have
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3. been used in selected markets and develop an understanding of why these commercials
were successful in their respective markets.
Introduction
With growing consolidation of global brewers what should be the communication
strategy in building global brands? What kinds of messages influence beer consumers in
the different markets around the world? By analyzing common themes used by dominant
brands in key markets answers to these questions will be pursued in this study.
Perhaps the single most important strategic decisions an international marketer must
make when designing advertising campaigns destined for global markets is whether to
standardize advertising worldwide or to customize it for each market or region that they
wish to enter.
Academics and practitioners alike are divided regarding the advantages and
disadvantages of each approach. This debate carries a variety of labels: Standardized
campaigns are also referred to as globalized and universal; specialized campaigns are
called localized, adapted and even customized.
In his seminal work, “The Globalization of Markets.” (1983) Theodore Levitt contends
that the world is one large market and that regional, national and even international
differences are at most superficial. Thus, the consumer may well be satisfied with similar
products and services but perhaps the most controversial part of his premise is that
advertisers could sell products globally with standardized messages. Simply put,
standardized messages refer to messages that are used internationally with virtually no
change in theme, illustration, or copy. Provisions could perhaps be made for translation
where needed.
A middle ground has also been developed with an integrated approach of these two
divergent theories, sometimes called a hybrid approach where some products are seen as
more universal while others are managed more specifically to each region. “This
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4. integrated approach assumes that treating each country as a totally homogeneous market
is not realistic.” (Jain, 1993).
Six schools of thought on market segmentation were developed from the late 1980s to the
middle of the 1990s (Hassan, et al. 2003). This would imply that there is still much
debate and theory being developed as to how best approach the global market. In the end
most global marketers today would agree that, “The ultimate agenda is not to have an
identically uniform product line worldwide, rather the strategic marketing end is to come
up with a product mix that is standardized as possible, while recognizing allowances for
some local conditions are sometimes both necessary and desirable” (Keegan and
Schlegelmich, 1999)
By understanding the above-mentioned approaches to market segmentation or lack of, a
greater understanding can be generated on how a global beer brand can be built most
effectively. This appears inevitable as brewers become more active with their brands
globally.
Recently, two of the world’s top ten brewers, Interbrew and AmBev, merged to from
InBev, the world’s largest brewer by volume. Shortly afterwards InBev decided they
would take Brahma, a dominant brand in South America, into global markets.
Advertising agencies were pitched to see who would gain the contract for the ‘world’s
first truly global beer brand’ (Tylee, J. 2004)
“…Unlike product categories that have standardized features and
universal appeal, such as automobiles or computers, beer is very
much a culturally bound product. From the way it is brewed to its
appearance in a glass to the subtleties of its taste profile, every
beer is unique, and local cultures have historically held a
preference for their own local brands…”(Goodson, 2004)
4

5. Earlier work regarding a comparison of television advertising in Britain and the United
States concluded that, “consumers of the two countries are currently exposed to
fundamentally distinct styles of commercial messages based on cultural values” (Caillat
& Mueller, 1996). This was a study of domestic brewers only and therefore doesn’t
reflect on the current prevalence of advertising campaigns from breweries originating in
different markets (i.e. Stella campaigns in the UK), which would be the genesis of a
global beer brand. With the continued growth of globalization, a more current
understanding of the television beer advertising in each of the selected markets will
generate a better understanding of the prevailing themes in each market.
There is little in the way of extensive literature on the subject of television beer
advertising in this context. The lion’s share of literature concerning beer and television
advertising focuses on the relative influence beer advertising has on minors or those who
are of the underage group, usually in the context of health and well being.
The Global Beer Market
As globalization and consolidation within industries continues to dominate many
business headlines, the beer industry has been following the same trend with a growing
number of mergers and acquisitions over the last 15 years. It has been a slow start with
arguably the first major acquisitions in the global beer market occurring in the 1980s with
Interbrew, based in Belgium buying Labatt Breweries in Canada. The 1990s saw many of
today’s large brewers grabbing regional and national breweries and brands, such as the
South African Breweries shopping spree though Africa followed by the purchase of the
prominent Miller brand in the U.S., leading to the corporate renaming, SABMiller. More
of this consolidation in the industry would appear likely. “The world beer market is
currently highly fragmented. Even Bud Light, the best-selling brand, has barely 3 per cent
of the global market” (Tylee, 2004)
With these mergers and acquisitions, companies are gaining increased distribution
channels, an increased established account base, and markets that perhaps were not even
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6. considered accessible until these M & As were deemed possible. With these new
channels, accounts and markets comes the challenge of understanding them in regards to
brand building. This will be addressed in more detail in progressive sections of this study.
Initially a broad and aggregate look will be taken at selected regional beer markets.
Further research and investigation will be needed to develop a more specific
understanding of more micro markets such as a country-by-country analysis of Europe or
state by state in the US. The intention of this study is to generate a general understanding
of the differences and similarities in television advertising for leading brands of beer
between North America, Europe and the UK. Although some niche beer brands will use
television advertising, this study will only be concerned with the so-called flagship
brands that the world’s largest breweries focus on to develop market share. By no means
is this a comprehensive look at beer adverting in these markets but a study of the nuances
of television advertising in each market. The intentions of this study is not to generate a
guide to successful advertising in these markets but an understanding of what different or
similar approaches and themes are used to capture the mind share of the consumer in
these markets. The focus will be on the major brewers in each market and how these
brewers approach their television advertising and what thematic messages they employ
within their campaigns. By looking at these broader markets, in the context of lead
brands, and gaining a general understanding of what messages are more appealing to the
beer consumer in these markets a rationale for a global advertising with a homogeneous
message can be discounted or accepted.
Table 1
Company Millions of Hectolitres
InBev (3) 190 m
Top Anheuser Busch (1) 152.2m
Global SABMiller (2) 132.6m
Brewers Heineken NV (4) 101m
Molson Coors Brewing Co. (9) 57.6m
Carlsberg Breweries A/S (5) 54.3m
Scottish & Newcastle (7) 48.2m
Grupo Modelo (8) 41.7m
Kirin Brewery Co. (9) 34.3m
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7. Qingdao Brewery Holdings (-) 32.6m
YE: 2003 Source: Impact Databank via Interbrew UK Report 2005
This is a pro forma ranking of brewers based on their sales performance in 2003, which takes account of major
merger/takeover activity since then. Figures in brackets represent position in previous year
As global brewers look to grow their markets outward, they realize they have an
untenable situation, like the rest of the global business world, and competing with other
global brewers head on is inevitable. This has increasingly been the scenario in the US,
UK and European markets. Brewers are bringing their flagship brands to this beer battle
and advertising for image building within the beer consumer’s (and potential consumers)
minds has been, and will be, paramount. To develop a tangible response to these
messages (i.e. sales) there will have to be a strong understanding of how to communicate
to the beer consumer or at least an understanding of what ‘language’ the beer consumer is
used to hearing and seeing. The key medium for these brand messages in these markets
have been television commercials in the past and, with the exception of web based
promotions, there are no indication brand budgets, and their allocations to different
mediums, should see divergence from the reliability of television advertising in the
future.
Table 2 Brand Million Hectolitres Sales Performance
Bud Light (2) 44.7m 2.5%
Budweiser (1) 43.5m -3.1%
Top Skol (3) 31.9m -1%
Global Corona (4) 27m 3.2%
Beer Heineken (5) 22.1m -3.5%
Brands Coors Light (7) 19.5m -1.8%
Asahi Super Dry (6) 18.8m -8.1%
Miller Lite (8) 18.6m 1%
Brahma Chopp (9) 16.3m -1.5%
Polar (10) 14.4m 0%
YE: 2003 Source: Impact Databank via Interbrew UK Report 2005
Figures in brackets represent position in previous year
7

8. The beer market is not only fragmented globally but it also nationally and regionally. As
beer is a perishable product and typically heavily taxed with many governments
providing lower tax brackets for smaller, local brewers, there are many types of
categories for the consumer to choose from. Different markets categorize the beer market
in different ways but essentially they all can be all be loosely categorized as the
following,
Discount – Typically these brands have very little, if any, marketing communications in
relation to these other categories. Packaging is simplistic and minimal. Low cost is the
mantra of this category so retail pricing can be as low as possible in order to access the
target market; the budget conscious consumer.
Main Stream – the vast majority of the volume sales in the market. This is the segment
into which the flagship brands fall under. This is also where the advertising and
competition is particularly intense.
Local/Micro – a niche market that can develop a devout following and possibly benefit
from a lighter tax burden. Consumers include connoisseurs, occasional drinkers and
‘principle’ drinkers (those supporting local brands out of principle to help local business)
Import/Premium – this category overlaps somewhat with the Local/Micro category as,
many of the aforementioned brands will be premium, in other words, higher priced with
costlier and more attractive packaging. Consumers include those with a higher disposable
income, the image conscious and beer enthusiasts.
It should be noted that beer is a controlled product and heavily taxed in most countries as
a luxury good. There are still puritan strains in many markets looking to hinder alcohol
advertising due to the ‘social ills’ they bring. Regulation of alcohol advertising is usually
strict in every market. For example, in the UK advertising of alcohol is regulated by a
self-imposed code of conduct designed by the Advertising Association (Dahl, 2000).
However, advertisers still manage quite easily to impress upon the viewer the lifestyle
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9. message that has been the industry mantra for decades. Perhaps unwritten rules carry
more of an influence as beer advertisers are well aware of the backlash that can come for
running a risqué advertisement. Generally brewers realize it serves them best in the long
run if they stay under the radar of special interest groups or even supporting them as is
the case with drunk driving advertisements sponsored by brewers in Canada, most
probably acquiescing to a potential public relations nightmare.
Along with growing global competitors, brewers must contend with the still relatively
new trend spawning a new category altogether, the Ready To Drink beverages (RTDs) or
alcohol-pops such as Smirnoff Ice. This category has steadily shaven away market share
from brewers in most major markets. The response from some brewers has been to
respond in kind with their own versions of RTDs. Budweiser recently launched a new
‘beer’ called ‘B-to-the-E’ or ‘B (E)’ with Ginseng, guarana and caffeine to compete with
this new product category, but brewers rarely succeed when trying to innovate with new
products that are not beer. Furthermore, these innovations are usually marketed using less
financially intensive media forms such as print and billboard advertising. Television
advertising, for the most part, remains the domain of the established flagship brands.
Many feel that the growth of the wine market and even spirits market will provide the
greatest long-term threat to brewers as competition for the finite alcohol market increases
in the years to come.
Although industry concentration is perhaps important to brewers it is of less consequence
in regards to television advertising as the medium is prohibitively expensive, ensuring
only the largest players in the market can afford to access television as a platform to build
brand imagery in the competitive beer market.
The UK Market
The UK is home to two of the world’s largest brewers, Scottish and Newcastle (S & N)
and SABMiller, the later moving to London after previously being based in South Africa.
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10. The UK has a long history of beer brewing and consumption, but until the last few
decades, it was dominated by the ale category, unique to this part of the world. Over the
last few decades lager drinking, an influence from continental European brewers, has
increased dramatically and shows no sign of slowing down, with ale consumption only
accounting for approximately 32% of the market (Interbrew UK Market Report 2005).
Consolidation has also been the name of the game over the last few decades with mergers
and acquisitions occurring in spits and spurts, leaving S & N as the sole British based
brewer by origin within the world’s top ten list of global brewers.
The UK population has a long history of going to the ‘pub’, or public house, which
means more consumption is done at a licensed premise versus take home, the later being
more popular in the North American market. The pub is a very a much part of the culture
in the UK, interwoven with everyday life too much of the population and a very
important venue when understanding brand building for beer in this market.
Alcohol consumption in the UK has received an increasing amount of press from two
different, yet related issues recently. The first is from the development over the last 3 or
more years of the increasing amount of binge drinking, causing havoc outside pubs and
clubs in neighborhoods around the UK.
“Britain's drink problem is undeniable. While Americans and continental Europeans
consume the same amount or less than they used to, with sobriety notably on the rise in
France and Italy, Britons drink a quarter more alcohol than they did ten years ago.”
(Economist, Sept 1st
2005)
As this new trend was developing the government passed through the 2003 Licensing
Act. This legislation, to being by November 2005, will allow local councils the freedom
to grant permits to pubs that wish to remain open after the antiquated 11pm standard.
This will, some believe, eventually eliminate the binge drinking that appears to be a
uniquely UK phenomena. However this plays out, marketers will have to create their
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11. brand messages with caution and be sure to avoid any advertising campaign that may
evoke any association to binge drinking.
The North American (NA) Market
North America (NA) is home to two major global brewers, Anheuser Busch and Molson
Coors Brewing Co. Both companies have been making forays outside their home
continent in search increased revenue while they fight for market share between each
other as well as strong regional brands and subsidiaries from other global brewers.
NA was selected, that is the US and Canada, as it represents one of the world’s largest
markets. Instead of looking simply at the US market, by far the largest of the 3 countries
on the continent, Canada was also included as both countries share many cultural
similarities. Trends in both beer markets are very similar with the development of the
light beer market growing in both, albeit faster in the U.S. Furthermore, both countries
consume a very high percentage of take home versus licensee consumption, very large
packaged versus draught consumption, and the way the product is advertised, favouring
30 second commercials, particularly during sporting events.
In should be noted as well that the US is coming into it’s biggest and arguably most
important demographic; teenagers, offspring from the baby boomers. This group is very
large, they have a higher disposable income with access to credit cards, and are
accustomed to being bombarded with advertising messages, more than any other
demographic coming of age. They are perhaps the savviest generation of consumers to
date.
The European Market
Europe is home to Carlsberg, Heineken and InBev (although InBev claims two head
offices from the recent merger, the other in South America). These beer titans have been
battling for market share against each other for many decades as their dominance within
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12. their relatively small home nations, (Denmark, The Netherlands and Belgium
respectfully) forced them to seek growth within the rest of Europe and eventually outside
the continent.
There are many different social mores across the complex cultural diversity in continental
Europe. As with North America and the UK, alcohol consumption is deeply ingrained
into European culture. Traditionally the northern European countries were considered
predominantly beer drinkers while southern Europe was dominated by wine
consumption. Lately it appears that both of these regions are influencing each other,
creating strong growth of wines and flat beer sales in northern Europe with the opposite
trends recently occurring in southern Europe. Furthermore, France has seen strict
legislators outlaw alcoholic beverage advertisements on television and restrict lifestyle-
themed advertisements in all other media (Goodson, 2004).
In has been proposed that the European beer market has reached maturity, (Vrontis,
1998). In other words the market has hit saturation, which will lead to brewers fighting
for static or shrinking market share. The European brewer landscape has changed over
the last seven years with mergers and acquisitions creating a less fragmented market, not
unlike the rest of the globe. The most notable recent acquisition was the purchase of the
large German brewer Beck’s by Interbrew, with European Union approval, in 2001.
Vrontis states, “The European beer market is complex with many diverse external
elements influencing it. These could be factors such as competitors, suppliers,
government regulations, associations and legislation.” These elements should be
softened as mergers and acquisitions create less competition with suppliers and
consumers making Europe an easier continent for brand building.
In analyzing the European market, Vrontis looks at the industry across the continent and
breaks it down by country. This segmentation is less relevant today, as the EU has
allowed trade between nations to pass more freely. Vrontis goes on to address the
problem of beer monopolies within countries however approach has been deemed as
irrelevant in that there are no pure monopolies in any country, although Vrontis claims
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13. there are 5 monopolies (Denmark, Italy, France, Belgium and Holland). Perhaps it’s more
important to consider the major players that exist in every market. This can be seen by
the major brewers list (see table 1). Furthermore, according to the World Legal
Information Institute (WLII) on a report done for the Commission of the European
Communities in 2003, Heineken, the dominant producer in the country, only accounted
for 50-60% of the beer volume in the Netherlands, not the 70% as stated by Vrontis.
Regardless of these numbers, no brewery has exclusive control over any national market
in Europe, which, by definition, is a monopolistic market.
A notable difference between these markets is how the beer is consumed. In the US, take
home purchases and packaged product (an industry term for bottles or cans) drive the vast
majority of sales (by volume), averaging between 80-90% across Canada and the US. In
the UK and Europe volume sales are tend to be higher for on-trade business, as can be
noted in the chart below. Also worth noting, while the UK and Europe tend to have a
much higher percentage of consumption on-trade versus take home, the serving sizes are
very different. The popular serving size in the UK is the pint, a whopping 20 ounces
whereas the Europeans more commonly consume smaller measures such as 10 ounce
glasses when at licensed premises. Europeans will also tend to consume beer more with
meals whereas the UK market experiences more consumption, without food, after dinner
until the pubs close at 11pm.
Table 3
Percentage
On-Trade UK 65%
Share of
Beer France 31%
Business
(by volume) Belgium 55%
Holland 35%
Source: AC Neilson/GB/On-trade/YE January 2005
In regards to world markets, the NA, UK and Europe have common bonds but there are
clearly differences between these markets in the context of beer consumption.
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14. Television Advertising of Beer in UK, North America and Europe
“I know I’m wasting half my ad dollars, I just don’t know which half” Anonymous
Although few marketers would admit it themselves, a great deal of advertising can be lost
in the media mix. Knowing what works and what is thought to work is a whole other
matter however. Complicated algorithms support trends such as advertising for sporting
events in NA builds brand awareness but does this miss out on other possible hidden
markets? It is not the purpose of this study to answer this question but it is important to
understand the myriad of choices a marketer must deal with in an attempt to maximize
advertising spend.
Advertising effectively is not an easy task. Many variables need to be considered before
the message is sent to market. Social mores can have subtle characteristics from region to
region or country to country. Language and symbols provide different meanings to
different people. Products that are culturally bound such as beer exacerbate this issue.
There are very few messages a beer company can say about their brand. Other industries
can talk about a long list of features or innovations or even ingenuity but when it comes
to beer the message is lifestyle. Selling a lifestyle is about selling a state of mind and that
is what the marketing campaigns for beer, using television advertisements, attempt to do.
Beer advertisers want the consumer to identify with the actors in the ad, even though the
actors might be obsessed with their particular brand of beer, any amount if identification
is a step towards keeping their brand top of mind. If the brand is top of mind then
consumers will simply purchase the brand versus the competitor’s brand. At the very
least, “When a consumer sees a brand advertised on a popular show, she not only learns
about the brand, she learns that many other people know about it also.”(Chwe, 1998)
Television beer advertisement has long sold the lifestyle instead of the product. It is rare
to hear any description of the actual product, although the word ‘refreshing’ is almost
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15. always used. Advertisers in most industries realize that selling a lifestyle can convey
much more than simple product features.
Although beer is a fairly simple product to brew it can have a wide variety of points of
difference: colour, alcohol percentage, hops, grains, water, taste, odour, and degree of
effervescence to name a few. It is rare to hear any of these mentioned in a television
commercial. In actuality, flagship brand beers have very little difference, in regards to
product features, with the majority of their lesser know competitors. This is why the
dominant brewers are reluctant to market their product on product features. It is very
difficult to keep a point of difference that other brewers can easily imitate. Lifestyle is a
more manageable feature to market and associations with exclusive events such as the
World Cup provides image-building opportunities for the brand that are difficult to copy.
It is therefore easier for marketers to protect their brand image if they tell you what the
beer brand means and stands for, not what is actually inside the bottle.
Other industries can use icons or figures to sell say, tires, but due to the sensitive nature
of selling alcohol cartoon characters and the like are taboo for this type of mass media
message. Budweiser stepped close the line with frogs selling their beer, including cartoon
frogs on their internet site. Special interest groups pay close attention to alcohol
advertising and are quick to point out any deviance from acceptability, whatever that
might mean at the time, to regulating bodies such as the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC).
Although advertising bans on beer can seem pointless, “The results indicate that
advertising bans in OECD countries have not decreased alcohol consumption or alcohol
abuse.” (Nelson, et al., 2001), they provide the biggest threat to the brands that rely on
image building in the mind of the consumer.
“A major brewery will allocate approximately 23-30% of a flagship brand’s total budget
towards the advertising creative and airtime for television advertising.” (In the context of
an interview, Bill Wade, General Manager, The Premium Beer Company, Canada). This
high percentage would imply a heavy reliance on the success of these advertising
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16. programs and campaigns to ensure the success of the brand as well as the belief that
television advertising, versus other options such as print advertising, will pay the
dividends needed to build or sustain a brand.
There are, of course, other media options to beer marketers building a global brand. Web
advertising holds possibilities but this medium is still considered a wild unknown with
many more variables to cope with in comparison to television as a medium. With a
greater understanding of the 20-30 years of modern television beer advertising, what is
known and what is not know, it is more likely that television will be the dominant
medium of choice, in regards to budget allocation, for reaching the global market.
There is little chance for coincidence that the number one brand in the world, by volume,
is Bud Light (Interbrew UK Market Report 2005), a brand extension launched years ago
from the venerable Budweiser brand. Bud Light is currently considered to have one of the
most popular advertising campaigns, by virtue of a strong use of comedic timing and
identifying with the consumer in the market.
As a consumer product, beer relies heavily on creating the ‘right’ image in the consumers
mind to ensure loyalty and repeat business. Very little is focused on the actual product
inside the bottle itself. However the right image can resonate differently among varied
market segments, “With respect to advertising the influence of cultural differences is very
pervasive since, as a form of social communication, advertising is considered to be
particularly reflective of culture” (Hong, et al., 1987).
Another study delving into advertising themes (Pelsmacker and Geuens, 1998) and the
reactions found from showing advertisements to a group of Belgian and Polish undergrad
and graduate students. These were broken down into 4 categories; warmth, eroticism,
humour and non-emotional. Pelsmacker and Geuens show just how difficult it is to reach
across different regions and cultures within Europe. Even within the US and UK it can be
assumed that advertising campaigns for beer would elicit different reactions in, lets say,
Scotland compared to Southern England or California compared to Tennessee.
16

17. Furthermore, if Pelsmacker and Geuens wanted to break down the Polish and Belgian
markets further there is little doubt they would have found differences between the
reactions they found from the eastern regions of Poland as compared to their western
counterparts.
However, firms and their advertising houses must, for the sake of efficiency, look to
create some sort of common ground in these markets. For the global brewer, there will be
the desire to search for a common ground globally. The market can anticipate Brahma, to
take the first leap into this foray as InBev looks to take their brand onto the global stage,
shopping for advertising houses in 2005 to help it become, ‘the first truly global beer
brand’. “The world beer market is still made up of lots of local brands," an insider said.
"Now InBev wants to flex its international muscle and see if it is possible to have a beer
that can be promoted the same way around the world. The US is a huge market, but so are
Europe and the Far East."” (Tylee, 2004)
There is little doubt that other global brewers are like-minded and will be, if not already,
be thinking globally in respect to their brands. In other words, brewers have been or will
be deciding how best to develop a global brand to lead their portfolio. Of course it could
be argued that global brands already exist. Heineken for instance is familiar with most
markets around the world. Heineken’s website claims the brand is available in over 170
countries and is Europe’s largest brewery. “Within the global beer market consolidation
is accelerating and the beer industry is moving towards an end-game situation.”
(Heineken.com, 2005)
Television beer advertisements have always attempted, for the most part, to entertain the
consumer. It could be argued that beer commercials have a legitimate part of our psyche
as the consumer, mainly men, connects with them psychologically, so much so there are
even DVDs for sale covering decades worth of beer commercials (Beerbooks.com, 2005).
Many beer consumers look forward to good beer advertisements to compliment television
viewing, particularly during sporting events in NA. The question arises however, ‘what
makes a good beer advertisement or what does it take to engage the consumer to a
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18. satisfactory end?” There are two very different issues here. To the advertiser or marketer
a good beer advertisement is one that prompts the viewer to purchase that particular
brand. What makes a good beer advertisement to the consumer will most likely be
something that entertains them.
Gustafson and Yssel (1998) created 14 different categories when they selected their list
for the world’s 100 best commercials: Demonstrations, Dialogue, Blockbusters, Love and
Romance, Animals, Humour, Music, Imagery (including art and fantasy), Simply
brilliant, Children, Characters and celebrities, Parody, Humanity. These categories or
themes are meant to cover the entire range of possible themes for a television
commercial. Due to the limitations for television beer commercials, that is the legal
restrictions and the limited demographic (i.e. no minors or even seniors targeted), some
of these themes such as ‘Children’ would not be appropriate. Since beer commercials are
obviously limited to what themes they can use (i.e. little opportunity to use
Demonstration and Characters), this study would look to develop considerably less than
14 themes. Yssel and Gustafson, also created an exclusive categorization, in other words,
each commercial could only fall under one theme, allowing no overlapping. This posses a
problem in a situation where, say perhaps a washing detergent is demonstrating it’s
benefits when dealing with stains generated by small children and pets, with shots of
small children playing with dogs. This hypothetical commercial can fall under three
separate categories that Yssel and Gustafson have created: Children, Demonstration and
Animals. Deciding on one dominant theme eliminates the relevance of any other themes
present within the commercial. This, it is believed, is a weakness in Yssel and
Gustafson’s study, preventing a comprehensive understanding of the nuances that made
these ‘100 best commercials’ successful.
This study will be documenting any occurrence of the selected themes, allowing for
numerous themes to be present when warranted.
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19. Methodology
The primary objective of this study is to discover how major beer brands are advertised,
in regards to television, in the three selected markets and to generate a general
understanding of the differences and similarities regarding which themes are used to
communicate brand lifestyle and image. The advertisements selected for this study have
been affixed to the back of hard copies of this paper in the form of a compact disc,
available for viewing in various media player formats.
Information on television advertising and the beer industry was gathered from various
journals and industry leaders (i.e. InBev, Heineken, Carlsberg). The commercials
analyzed were gathered from various websites. Due to the popularity of television beer
commercials, hundreds of commercials are easily found on the internet from different
sites that celebrate this unique genre
Commercials from each market were then selected based on whether or not they
represented a dominant brand in their respected market, and whether it was part of a
recent advertising campaign. An exception was made for the ‘ Wassup’ advertising
campaign created by Budweiser nearly 8 years ago. This advertisement was included due
to its incredible success, adding ‘Wassup’ to the American vernacular. Only the strongest
brands in each market were considered as they would best represent the concentration of
television advertising the viewer would be subject to viewing at any given time.
Limiting the research to dominant brands meant that, assuming there are 3-4 dominant
brands in each market, duplication of brand selection could not be avoided however when
duplication did occur it was with the most dominant brand in that market (i.e. Two
commercials for Bud Light in the NA market as it is the lead brand in that market by
volume). For Europe, 5 commercials were selected with 6 selected for both NA and the
UK. Although this is a fairly small sample size it is hoped that it will be enough to
establish an exploratory overview of the advertising appeals used.
19

20. Once the commercials were selected they were qualitatively content analyzed, a process
similar to the one used by Dahl (2000). This was part of a much broader discourse
analysis, that is the critical discourse of the language of television commercials and how
this language is used in the context of different cultural markets. However, due to
restrictions with time and the research agenda, this was not fully explored. Focus groups
were considered but considering the nature of the study, the comparison of markets on
different continents, that methodology was deemed unfeasible as the participants would
be selected from a small geographic area, not in line with the nature of the study. In order
for focus groups to work effectively for this study, they would have to be carried out in
their respective markets. Furthermore, focus groups would not have provided any
detailed information about the advertisements, only perceptions.
The commercials studied in this research were viewed approximately twenty times each,
with notes taken to create the synopsis or ‘story line’ that has been included in each
deconstruction. After the story line, ‘Key Points/Messages’ were noted, essentially as a
summary of what are believed to be key concepts that the advertiser was hoping the
viewer would glean from one or many viewings of that particular commercial. Finally,
‘further analysis’ was undertaken to aid the discovery of similarities and/or differences
from commercial to commercial and region to region. The further analysis is made up of
six separate steps.
Set-up – The initial shot. What is meant to be processed by the viewer in the first few
seconds.
Delivery – This consists of the longest part of the advertisement, with anticipation of
the execution or end message.
Execution – The end message is reserved for the final 2-5 seconds, usually followed
by the product shot and tag line.
20

21. Mise-en-scene – as this is usually a very short time to send the message, the setting is
almost always static but can be a key element is setting the tone or feeling of the
advertisement.
Music/Dialogue – any dominant music or sounds that impact the message(s).
Themes - Humour, sex, sport, camaraderie and heritage were the dominant
reoccurring themes and therefore were the themes selected for this study. Others
themes were initially considered such as music, and patriotism but these were
excluded due to their minimal presence. Although music was present in many
advertisements, it was not considered a theme unless it appeared to be an integral part
of the message. In other words, the characters needed to be dancing to, moving to, or
acknowledging the music as was the case in the Heineken ‘Flexible Dancing’
advertisement.
The selection of themes present is a subjective matter, open for interpretation. Once each
theme was established Professor Nicholas Alexander (University of Wales, Aberystwyth)
was consulted in order to gain additional perspective, either concurring or questioning
findings through discourse.
There was no template found in the literature review for the commercial deconstruction,
however the aforementioned three steps were, after much analysis, considered a thorough
approach to glean the necessary and appropriate elements of the commercial messages.
Other elements of the television advertisements were considered, such as the location of
consumption (i.e. home or in a bar), vessel for consumption (i.e. bottle or glass), and time
of consumption (day or night). These elements are all relative to the beer drinking
culture, if you will, of each market. An advertisement for beer in Belgium, for example,
would more likely show a draught glass full of beer versus a bottle as the majority of beer
sales occur from draught in on-trade (Belgium On-trade share 55% Interbrew UK Report
2005), whereas the vast majority of sales in Canada occur in bottles and most of this is
21

22. take home so advertisements in Canada would be focused on bottled, also known as
packaged, beer. Once again, the length of this study could not allow these elements to be
studied at this time.
Consideration was given to other measurable content such as dialogue (i.e. how many
words were spoken or sentences exchanged), age of actors, number of product shots and
male versus female ratio. Again, the issue of a time constraint meant that the criteria for
the commercial deconstruction had to keep to a manageable number of elements. Those
themes selected were seen as the most relative to the genre and would hopefully provide
the most information from which conclusions could be developed. Certain criteria had to
be met to warrant the existence of a theme within the television commercials studied.
Sex was considered a theme if there appeared to have any provocative affect on the main
character(s)’ actions and/or provided any imagery intended to be titillating.
Dahl used the term ‘sex appeal’ and stated, “A commercial was judged to use ‘sex
appeal’, if it depicted members of the opposite sex making advances towards the main
character, if they spoke seductively or were dressed in a manner that may be interpreted
as erotic.” This was considered too stringent criteria for sex as a theme for this study.
Either overt or subdued sex can be portrayed in many different ways and therefore this
study looked at sex in a broader sense.
Humour was considered present, as a theme, if the commercial was clearly designed to
illicit laughter or the design of the advertisement was to deliver a punch line or joke. The
standard format for this type of humour is to deliver information for the vast majority of
the message with the very last section saved for a surprise or interesting twist, that would
create laughter.
Camaraderie as a theme is much simpler to measure. If there were friends present
camaraderie was acknowledged, assuming there was some sort of bonding between them
in the commercial. In other words, camaraderie existed if there were two or more people
that appeared to be familiar with one another prior to the opening of the commercial and
22

23. continued their familiarity within the advertisement. Camaraderie as a theme appears to
have developed rules over the years. Research found this interesting rule of thumb,
“You always have people drinking in numbers: never have a guy
on his own. That's seen to be a loner and that's against the rules
for a beer ad. Also, you never had two men drinking together
because they could be gay. So it was always three: never one,
never two.” (John Webster, Advertising Creator, Hoffmeister
Beer, 'Follow the Bear', 1983, 100 Greatest Advertisements,
Channel 4, Broadcast 2003.)
Heritage was considered a theme if the advertisement makes any implication to the
amount of time the brand name has been in the market. This could be simply indicating
the year the brewery was established or nostalgia with the brand.
The use of sport as a theme was fairly straightforward and followed Dahl’s criteria,
“Sport includes all commercials that make a clear reference to sports of all forms, show
main characters involved in sporting activities or after sports”
The markets of the US, the UK and Europe were selected as these were not only the
places of which the world’s largest brands dominated and therefore would be the most
likely locations for launching advertising campaigns for global brands but these markets
experienced some of the heaviest advertising spends worldwide. These three markets
combined host seven of the world’s top ten brewers. These markets were also more likely
to have cultural similarities due to the historical ties that these three regions have shared
over the last few centuries. Comparing markets that were more apt to have a common
ground would allow for a greater appreciation in the differences and/or similarities
between how major beers brands were marketed in these regions, in the context of
television advertising themes. Other markets were considered, such as South America,
home to the Brahma brand that spends a great deal of it’s budget on television advertising
but, for the reasons mentioned earlier, the final three markets were analyzed.
23

24. Findings
Seventeen commercials were deconstructed, five from Europe, six from NA and six from
the UK. Each market and the respective commercials will be deconstructed in these
findings.
European Television Advertisements
Raw Eggs – Beck’s – 30 seconds
Story Line
A pan across a kitchen counter asking the question in a husky German male voice ‘What
makes a good breakfast experience?’ As we move across the ingredients on the counter
the first option comes in subtitles across the bottom of the screen and verbally,
‘A’ - Something tasty?
‘B’- Something healthy?
‘C’ - Or someone you can share it with?
As we are given option ‘A’ we see a female hand with an egg in it. When option ‘B’
comes along we see that there is another woman beside the first one. When option ‘C’
comes we see the 1st
woman grab the 2nd
woman by the face, somewhat forcefully yet
with care, and drop the raw egg yolk that is in her mouth into the other woman’s mouth
and then they exchange it again.
24

25. The commercial then ends with the music picking up-tempo, a shot of a cityscape at
night, a bottle of Beck’s in the shot, approaching closer with the tag line, ‘Life Beckons
and you’re holding the key’.
Key Points/Messages
This commercial is clearly attempting to be different from other beer commercials. It is
hard to say exactly what the message is and that could be the message itself, in the vein
of making the viewer think about what he/she just saw and keep the thinking as long as
possible. Or perhaps to create discourse, causing people to ask friends if they saw ‘that
Beck’s commercial?’
There is clearly a sexual theme here. Simply the innuendo of sharing a breakfast with
someone, while the last shot implies it is nighttime, would hint at casual sex. The fact it is
two women implies more of a taboo subject matter, most likely to evoke shock from the
viewer rather than a concerted effort by Beck’s to go after the lesbian market. The tag
line at the end would suggest that life should be more adventurous. Certainly the ad, in
black and white with modern music, is meant to be highly stylish.
1. Set-up – A kitchen and ingredients
2. Delivery – The question asking ‘what makes a good breakfast’ with an option of
‘a’, ‘b’, or ‘c’ with a woman in the background
3. Execution – Two women sharing a raw egg in an overtly sexual way
4. Mise-en-scene – Black and white kitchen but modern looking setting
5. Music/Sounds – Modern eclectic music in background
6. Themes – Sex and possibly camaraderie
25

26. Amstel - Man or Woman? – 30 seconds
Story Line
We look down a long ‘brown’ bar; typical of the type you would see in the Netherlands.
Three guys are looking down the bar. The guy in the middle goes down towards where
they are looking and approaches what appears to be a beautiful, well-dressed blond
woman. The guy who approached says ‘hi’, the blond turns around and we see that she
has a hint of masculine facial features. He gives her a big smile and then proceeds to ask
her a seemingly simple question about football, using beer glasses with the Amstel logo
(surrounded by Amstel coasters) and her glass of white wine. When she answers the
question correctly he smiles, says thank you and heads back to his friends. They look at
him, as if to see what the answer was but then the guy in the middle says, ‘It’s a man’.
They all begin laughing reservedly, and the viewer is given the impression that they had
been discussing this for a while and finally got their answer.
It ends with a simple shot of the Amstel logo in the middle with ‘Friends Forever’ below
the logo.
Key Points/Messages
This is clearly a male bonding advertisement. Instead of our protagonist asking the
‘attractive’ blond out or for a phone number he ends up getting a laugh at her expense.
This is a familiar setting to most men but it usually plays out differently with the guy
talking to the girl all night, leaving friends behind in the pursuit of the female. Another,
less overt message appears as we see the ‘girl’ drinking white wine while the guys drink
beer. These days it is becoming increasingly acceptable for men to drink a glass of wine
in a bar or pub and the brewers fear this trend as it eats away at their once untouchable
demographic. This is perhaps a small attempt to clearly define to the viewer that men
drink beer and ‘woman’ drink wine.
26

27. Note: Quotations were used around the words attractive, girl and woman, as it is still
unclear by the end of the ad if the blond is a man or woman.
Further Analysis
1. Set-up – Three men drinking at the bar
2. Delivery – One male asks a girl they were looking at a very basic question about
football
3. Execution – When the guy returns he says to his friends ‘It’s a man’
4. Mise-en-scene – A typical ‘brown’ bar in Holland
5. Music/Sounds – Background noises of a bar
6. Themes – Humour, sex, sports and camaraderie
Heineken – Three Generations – 40 seconds
Story Line
The advertisement starts off in black and white with a grainy 1930s feel and a dozen or so
men queuing. One guy is focused on, he has an envelope and opens the contents onto his
free hand and coins come out as he smiles with appreciation. We are to assume it is his
payday. He travels through the city, hitching a ride on back of a truck, which perhaps
would have been the ‘cool’ mode of transport back then. As he gets off the truck he
nearly knocks a woman over and continues on his way. He meets his more modern
dressed friend in front of a car dealer selling more modern cars and we sense time has
passed, as the new friend is in colour but the original guy is still in black and white. They
exchange pleasantries and walk down the street together but not before the new guy
checks his hair in a window reflection. They meet up with yet another friend, dressed in
the 1980s style and talking on a very large mobile phone, reminiscent of that era. They
again exchange pleasantries and continue down on their way together. They walk into a
27

28. bar and meet the fourth friend. The bar and fourth friend are meant to represent today
with all the trappings you would expect in a modern bar setting. Again they exchange
pleasantries and begin ordering beer. When 4 bottles of beer are put on the bar the first
guy from the 1930s puts a coin on the bar, as if to pay for all 4 bottles, but after the
female bartender and other guys raise their eyebrows the most modern guy gives his
credit card to the bartender, they toast their beer bottles and we see the product shot and
tag line, ‘It’s always been about the beer’.
Key Points/Messages
The theme here is clearly heritage and the time honoured appreciation of payday and
meeting your friends for a beer to celebrate the day. Heineken is making an attempt to
emphasize the heritage of their brand as a beer that represents fun with friends for many
generations.
Inflation is used as humour in the commercial as the 1930s guy wants to buy a round of
beers with a coin. Inflation is a very real aspect of life we all deal with begrudgingly and
Heineken has found a way for viewers to see humour in this economic inevitability.
Further Analysis
1. Set-up – We follow the main character with money in his pocket on payday
2. Delivery – He begins to meet his other friends, progressing through different eras
3. Execution – When the first guy from the 1930s, who just had payday, tries to buy
beers for his friends from different eras in a 21st
century bar he puts a coin on the
bar
4. Mise-en-scene – A modern city, going through different generations
5. Music/Sounds – Music from different eras, matching the visual imagery of the era
6. Themes – Humour, camaraderie and heritage
28

29. Heineken – Flexible Dancing – 60 seconds
Story Line
The main character is seen walking along an urban street looking a little forlorn. He sees
a sign; ‘Greenspace’ and what appears to be a door to a bar. He enters the bar and the soft
beat of music in the background picks up. He looks around smiles at some strangers, gets
a bottle of Heineken and we see he is dancing oddly, with just his legs moving as he leans
against the bar with the guy next to him dancing in the same peculiar way. He moves
around the bar, comes across another guy with a Heineken, again dancing very oddly but
with incredible flexibility. They exchange non-verbal pleasantries and begin dancing
together but from a safe distance as not to imply anything overtly homosexual. Elsewhere
in the bar an older looking guy with glasses walks up to a good looking woman, cheers
her bottle of Heineken with his glass of Heineken and her dance moves appear to have
‘infected’ him and now he is dancing with incredible flexibility.
We get back to the first guy and he meets a girl, she squeezes her nose, holds her breath
and as if by magic, the guy’s ears humorously pop and get bigger. The main character
leaves the club with the girl and a friend and we see two old women outside the club
greeting and gesturing each other using a very underground urban hand signalling, what
you might see in East Los Angles. The main characters continue to a kebab shop where
there is more infectious flexible dancing and ear ‘popping’.
The ad eventually ends with the main character getting in a cab and driving off to the
horizon but not before the dancing and ear ‘popping’ has seemingly infected everyone the
viewer sees in the commercial.
The ad finishes with a product shot and the tag line ‘Heineken. Meet you there’ while a
new character is added, doing the crazy dance across the screen with a large bouquet of
roses.
29

30. Key Points/Messages
Life is better with a little Heineken in it. It adds to the moment through music, dancing
and all round hipness.
Communal dancing to the same song can be paralleled to the to the legendary Coca-cola
advertising campaign, “I’d like to teach the world to sing” with the multi-cultural
elements and the harmonious unison.
There is certainly an underlying multicultural urban theme here that is shown through the
streets, kebab shop, and the taxi. Special effects are used implying a modern approach to
the message that Heineken is sharing.
Further Analysis
1. Set-up – A guy walking along the street alone
2. Delivery – He walks into a bar, orders a Heineken and joins in an infectious dance
with various people in the bar
3. Execution – There really isn’t any, other than the infectious dancing and ear
popping continuing out into the street
4. Mise-en-scene – Urban Europe in various settings
5. Music/Sounds – Music is rhythmic and with a strong beat, reinforcing the dancing
theme, almost toe-tapping
6. Themes – Camaraderie and humour
Tuborg – Beer Goggles – 60 seconds
Story Line
We see a guy sitting by himself in a bar or restaurant drinking a large bottle of Tuborg,
but pouring it into a glass first before he drinks it. He notices a girl, by herself, across
from him at another table drinking coffee. She appears dowdy. When he brings the first
30

31. sip of beer to his face, as the glass is pulled away (the shot is from the eyes of the guy and
the rim of the glass is large so the girl is shielded from view for a moment while he
drinks his beer) she has changed into a somewhat sultry and attractive girl. She looks at
him and plays with her hair. He takes another sip and as he pulls the glass away from his
face again he sees she has become more attractive. As he keeps taking sips of beer she
becomes more and more attractive and more and more flirtatious with him to the point of
becoming overtly sexual. He is clearly falling in love as he is draped over his table at one
point and he has the most contented smile on his face. To check to see if he is dreaming
he rubs his eyes vigorously, as if to erase any possibility that this was a fantasy and sure
enough, as he refocuses on his dream girl she has returned into the dowdy looking
librarian type with pulled back hair and glasses he saw before he began drinking his
Tuborg. He looks at his glass and notices it is empty and then goes to pour the bottle into
his glass but that too is empty. He becomes panicky and desperately tries to signal his
server for another bottle, desperately hoping that another bottle of Tuborg will help him
see his dream girl again.
It finishes with him smiling, the bottle on the table (logo facing forwards for logo
placement) and the tag line superimposed below, ‘One more Tuborg…please!’
Key Points/ Messages
Life is better with one more Tuborg. This is in regards to humour and making women
more attractive but mostly humour as any person who has over imbibed has noticed the
opposite sex becomes more attractive or at least our judgements are blurred along with
vision.
This plays on our nostalgia of those moments when beer neophytes gullibly thought
members of the opposite sex were more attractive as we drank and mistakes, possibly,
were made.
This is a fairly simple ad but not without merit. It doesn’t portray lifestyle as almost all
other ads up until this point do. It relies on us identifying with the beer drinker and his
comical expressions.
31

32. Further Analysis
1. Set-up – We witness a lonely guy in a bar with a bottle of Tuborg and he notices a
not so attractive girl across from him at another small table
2. Delivery – He notices that the girl becomes remarkably more beautiful and
flirtatious with every passing sip of Tuborg
3. Execution – As soon as he runs out of Tuborg the girl becomes unattractive again
and he desperately tries to order another Tuborg
4. Mise-en-scene – A bistro in any city in Europe
5. Music/Sounds – Dramatic violin chords
6. Themes – Humour and sex
United Kingdom Television Advertisements
Carlsberg – Ultimate Holiday – 40 seconds
Story
Three guys, looking mildly shocked, get dropped off on a runway with a Carlsberg
branded jet plane waiting for them and a stewardess greeting them with a tray of 3 large
glasses of beer. Celebratory music begins.
The three men are sitting on large reclining chairs one the plane. One of them can’t reach
his beer, the pilot notices this from a camera in the cockpit and steers the plane so the
glass will slide within reach of his hand.
The next shot shows that they are clearly traveling in luxury as we get a better view of
their luxury seats, they have the whole plane to themselves with 2 stewardesses at their
beck and call, not to mention the big screen TV in the background.
They arrive at a hotel in a tropical location and check into their exotic luxury room. One
guy goes to join his friends on the balcony while grabbing a glass of Carlsberg.
Everything seems perfect as all 3 guys have grins on their faces almost implying that life
32

33. couldn’t possibly get any better. Suddenly they hear loud, offensive, construction noise
and realize that their beautiful balcony that overlooks a pristine tropical paradise is right
next to a massive construction site. Just as there faces turn sour they realize that all the
workers are incredibly beautiful girls in semi-revealing construction type clothes. A voice
over comes at this point saying ‘Carlsberg don’t do holidays but if they did they would
probably be the best holidays in the world’. During the voice over the girls and guys
make sexual glances at one another. Just when the guys thought their holiday couldn’t get
any better it did.
The commercial finishes with a shot of the beach, three empty lounge chairs with a
construction helmet beside one (implying that the guys are too busy with the newly found
female construction workers that they have no time for the beach.), a beach ball bouncing
across the screen in the background, 3 cans of Carlsberg on ice in a bucket are in the front
slightly to the left and the tag line ‘Possibly the best lager in the world’.
Key Points/Messages
Carlsberg is beer that makes great occasions even better. In fact, Carlsberg makes
everything better.
Draught glasses used – implying and/or supporting licensee trade business. First beers
shown boarding the plane were 16-20 glasses (probably 20) and the second ones on plane
(appear 12 ounce), the third ones on balcony (12) and cans on the beach (12-16).
There is no dialogue in this commercial.
Further Analysis
1. Set-up – Three average guys appear to be receiving the VIP treatment for an exotic
holiday
2. Delivery – From plane to room with incredible view, everything appears to be
absolutely perfect for them
3. Execution – Just when things couldn’t possibly get any better the situation briefly
appears spoilt when the construction site is heard and seen but the impossible happens
33

34. and they realize it is staffed with absolutely beautiful women that appear very happy
to see these three guys. The first shot we get of this is a women bending over showing
part of her derriere, not unlike the stereotypical male labourer
4. Mise-en-scene – Nothing but pure luxury and perfect hospitality in every shot, with a
tropical theme once the plane has landed
5. Music/Sounds – Song by Sophie Ellis-Bextor called ‘Groove jet (If this ain’t love).
Sounds include the jet taking off and the construction site
6. Themes – Humour, camaraderie, and sex
Carling – Cracking – 40 seconds
Story Line
Opens with a guy waking up on the beach of a tropical island with a crab waving at him.
It looks as though this guy is stranded on this island from some sort of plane crash and he
has debris from the accident strewn all around him.
The crab takes him along, amid the wreckage to a silver box that our protagonist opens
and discovers is a fridge full of Carling but the fridge is clearly not working. The guy
then sets out on building a power generator for the fridge. The crab is even dragging his
own little sled of items along side the man, almost child-like or dog-like. To generate the
power the crab moves along a makeshift conveyor belt and with coaching and support
from the guy the fridge is turned on and miraculously the beer is instantly cold.
The next shot is of the guy relaxing in a lounge chair, completely content with his cold
beer and the sun setting. Then the guy lifts up a crab leg and, as the pleasant music stops,
he cracks open the crab leg and begins eating it. The screen shot finishes with the word
‘Cracking’, in the same font and style of the Carling logo, on a glass of draught that is
zoomed in for the product shot.
34

35. Key points/Messages
Carling comes before anything else, including camaraderie with a crab.
First shot of a cooler full of three rows of large cans. The protagonist grabs one and
caresses it. Second shot has the fridge on and he caresses the can again, finishing with an
empty can by a glass and the product shot is in a glass.
The commercial appears to end with a surprise finish that attempts to keep the viewer
thinking about what just happened, not unlike an entertaining movie that keeps the viewer
pondering as he leaves the theatre.
Further Analysis
1. Set-up- Guy stranded on an apparently deserted island
2. Delivery- The build up of a friendship with the crab
3. Execution - Cracking the crab’s leg for food
4. Mise-en-scene- Exotic and desolate uninhabited island
5. Music/Sounds- Haunting music at the beginning with strange and exotic jungle
sounds in the background. Once the cans of Carling is discovered the song “Just
the two of us” begins
6. Themes - Humour and camaraderie in the form of a crab
Carlsberg – Flatmates – 50 seconds
Story Line
The opening shot begins with a guy on a dark, lonely street with the only other sign of
life is the barking from a dog in the distance. He has a newspaper and when we see he is
reading the classifieds we notice that he has crossed many choices out, implying he has
been searching for quite a long time. He then rings a doorbell in the shape of the
Carlsberg ‘C’ logo and a green light within.
35

36. After he rings the bell a beautiful girl quickly answers the door. He says in a surprised
stutter and slight Irish accent, “Hi, I’m here about the room”
He notices that the place is huge and very opulently decorated. He is greeted by another
guy of Irish decent, saying ‘hi’ and offers to show him around. Our protagonist is first
introduced by the other guy to Cathy, also beautiful and ‘is a trainee chef who is making
pizza and won’t let anyone else cook’. A large flat screen television comes down from
the ceiling and is being watched by the girl who answered the door. She speaks to the TV
in disappointment, with an exotic accent, ‘Ah, chick flick’. She then changes the channel
and screams with excitement at what is on the next channel, ‘Ah! Football Legends!’ The
two guys continue the tour and find a panel on the wall that shows automated buttons for
taking care of cleaning tasks and other items such as a Jacuzzi. The cleaning button is
pressed and we see that popcorn, on the floor, is vacuumed up automatically by some
unseen device.
The two men then enter the bedroom and the host says ‘I’m afraid you’re stuck with the
box room’. The room is shaped like a box, with very stylish furniture; we then see that it
has a balcony overlooking a massive football stadium and a match is in progress.
We then see a shot of a tray of beer, 2 bottles and a glass. A voiceover begins, ‘Carlsberg
don’t do flatmates but if we did they would probably be the best flatmates in the world’.
The advertisement purposely uses poor grammar presumably to identify with the target
demographic. We then see all four ‘flatmates’, on the balcony, smiling and enjoying the
game with a Carlsberg. The final shot is of the first girl reading a bedtime story about
how England beat Germany at football to our protagonist in bed as he falls asleep with a
smile on his face, as if he were in heaven.
Key Points/Messages
If Carlsberg did anything else other than beer, it would be fantastical. This is certainly
meant to imply, as the tag line suggests, that Carlsberg beer is ‘probably the best beer in
the world’. If average guys, like our protagonist in this advertisement, could have it their
way, everything would be better if Carlsberg made it.
36

37. Further Analysis
1. Set-up – A guy looking desperately for an apartment, something many individuals
can empathise with
2. Delivery – The tour of the perfect apartment and flatmates
3. Execution – The bedroom looks over a massive football stadium and he is read
pleasant football stories while he falls asleep in bed by one of the beautiful female
flatmates
4. Mise-en-scene – Quality flat with all of the best mod cons in spades
5. Music/Sounds – Dog barking in strange neighbourhood but when the apartment is
entered a casual, modern sounding beat plays in the background
6. Themes – Sex, sport, humour and camaraderie
John Smith’s – High Diving – 40 seconds
Story Line
The shot starts with a very athletic young Australian male in a diving competition. With
sports commentators making statements about his dive and replays, the commercial
appears to be the broadcast of a diving competition. The next diver, also very athletic, is a
Canadian and we also see him dive with commentary and a replay. Both have scored high
points on their dives. There is also commentary over the loud speaker in the pool area,
exactly as you would hear in swimming or diving competition.
The next competitor is John Smith from Great Britain. John Smith is young but he is out
of shape, pale and is wearing long decorative swimming trucks instead of the de rigueur
smaller, athletic style swimming gear athletes usually wear.
John Smith clearly doesn’t belong and doesn’t look able to compete but as he approaches
the end of the board he bounces and does a ‘bomb’ into the water, creating a huge splash
and soaking the judges. The crowd begin to cheer very loudly. The commentators are
very excited, as though he did a perfect and exciting dive. The judges’ scores come up on
37

38. the screen and he has a perfect score. As John Smith gets out of the pool we see his swim
trucks have slip down a bit and we can now see his ‘butt cleavage’. The screen freezes on
that shot, and the product is shown in a pint glass with the John Smith’s logo on the glass.
Key Points/Messages
Nothing overtly in the way of messages in this ad, as it is primarily meant to be
humorous. The only message is perhaps for the viewer to identify strongly with John
Smith, the diver, and therefore the beer John Smith’s. This is a story of an average guy
with nothing obvious to offer in a competition against 2 foreigners that appear to be
superior but the less-than-average guy wins. This is somewhat of a twist on the underdog
premise. There is also a theme of nationalistic pride with the British flag being displayed
alongside the name and logo John Smith’s.
Further Analysis
1. Set-up –There appears to be a diving competition going on
2. Delivery – Competitors from around the world are at this event and Britain is
represented by John Smith
3. Execution – John Smith is a pasty and pale looking guy who is an out of shape
diver but wins a perfect score with a ‘bomb’ dive
4. Mise-en-scene – A professional diving competition
5. Music/Sounds – Crowds cheering as the divers finish their dives, becoming
loudest when John Smith dives
6. Themes – Humour and sport
38

39. Stella Artois – Dying Man – 60 seconds
Story Line
The setting is in a bedroom, reminiscent of what someone would expect in the first half
of the 20th
century on continental Europe. An old man is lying on his bed, we assume he
is dying, as he looks very weak, surrounded by what we can assume are friends and
relatives. His son is by his side asking him what he would like. The old man first requests
a flower. His son, after falling out of a tree brings him a flower. The next request is
honeycomb and the son, fighting off stinging bees, returns to his father’s deathbed with
honeycomb. The next request is ‘Stella Artois’. We see the friends and relatives raise
their eyebrows as if to imply they are being put out by having to ‘chip in’ for this latest
request. We see coins landing in the son’s hand and then the son hurrying through the
streets of a town, carrying a mug of Stella Artois, with logo, as if it was very precious.
We then see the son on the back of a truck, implying he had to make the longest journey
yet for this request. As we see the son riding in back of the truck with a mug of beer on
his way to his dad we notice that temptation has got the best of the son, he can’t hold
back any longer and drinks the beer. We then see the truck pull away as the son is
standing there looking forlornly at the empty beer mug.
A voice in the background asking where his father is, we quickly see the voice came from
a priest, rushing along, again implying that the old man’s life is near an end. The next
shot is of the son and the priest in the entrance of the house. As the priest looks for a
place to put his coat and hat the son offers to take them but hands the empty mug to the
priest to hold. The priest then enters the room with the empty mug and the camera shows
the bedroom full of people looking at the priest. The camera then shows the son and
priests beside each other, everyone looking at them, and the son gestures with his eyes
and hand that the priest drank the beer.
At this moment the tag line on the bottom of the screen says ‘Stella Artois. Reassuringly
expensive’.
39

40. Key Points/Messages
As the final tag line suggests, Stella Artois is such a fantastic beer that cost is not an issue
and that it would be one of the final requests from a dying man. It also implies that the
temptation of the beer is so strong it overcomes the strongest trust and bonds, such as that
of a son and father. Furthermore the beer is so delicious it is entirely believable a priest
coming to give last rites would quaff a mug of the beer.
Surprisingly this ad was for the UK market (‘brewed in the UK’ appears in the top corner
of the screen at the end of the ad) but the entire dialogue was in French. This is surprising
considering the relations between the UK and France, that the ad would be so overtly
French. Clearly the beer drinker in the UK is meant to identify with the son who
succumbed to temptation and drank the beer.
Further Analysis
1. Set-up- The sombre setting of a man dying a giving his son last requests
2. Delivery – The son doing whatever his father requests but succumbing to
temptation, drinking the beer his father requested and family and friends chipped
in for
3. Execution – The finding an opportunistic moment for the son to blame the priest
for drinking the precious beer
4. Mise-en-scene- Early 20th
century France.
5. Music/Sounds- Classical music in the background, with a French film noir feel.
Surprisingly the dialogue is in French
6. Themes – Humour, heritage and camaraderie in the guise of the father/son
relationship
40

41. Carling – Frustrating – 40 seconds
Story Line
Guy is drinking a beer, he looks around and sees his girlfriend or wife come home. She
throws her hands out in disgust and he says, ‘Wot?’ She says, ‘You haven’t cleaned the
flat’. We see a flat in disarray and the guy has his feet up on the coffee table, next to cans
of Carling. The girl goes to pick up one of the cans and spills the beer. We see the guy’s
face grimace at the sight of spilt beer and he immediately cleans it up with his tongue.
We then see the girl’s face look as though she has figured something out. She proceeds to
spill beer all over the flat, with particular attention paid to the bathroom, with the guy
following along, licking up the beer but, as we gradually see, he is inadvertently cleaning
the flat. As the tongue is cleaning everything to the tune of ‘Wild Thing’ we see that the
girl’s facial expression is showing sexual arousal. The tongue and what it is cleaning
appears to be somewhat overtly sexual and the girl shows continued expressions of
increasing arousal.
She then continues to the bedroom as the guy follows with his tongue (now comically
larger) walking on all fours, as he has done from the start of the intentional spilling of the
beer, like a loyal dog. The girl, now in the bedroom, goes to pour Carling on herself, clad
in sexy underwear, but she is surprised to find she is out of beer. We then see a side shot
of the guy and his large tongue go from standing up to becoming limp and flaccid,
implying phallic symbolism. The girl tries to desperately shake a drop of the can onto
her scantily clad body, making noises of heavy exertion.
The last shot if of a full glass of Carling but instead of the brand name on the glass it says
‘Frustrating’ using the same font and style as the Carling logo.
Key Points/Messages
Carling is so precious and delicious a guy will do just about anything to save every drop.
This apparent weakness will make a guy walk around the apartment on all fours like a
41

42. dog to save every drop but when a girl tries to use this weakness to get her man to do
everything she wants it will backfire.
Even with a sexy girlfriend in her underwear on the bed, no more Carling means there is
no further reason for the guy to lick anymore with his tongue.
Further Analysis
1. Set-up – Strain in the relationship of the couple as the guy sat around drinking
beer and didn’t clean the flat. This could be considered a classic relationship issue
2. Delivery – The girl notices that the boyfriend will lick anything clean that the beer
is spilt on and proceeds to spill Carling on anything in the flat that needs cleaning
3. Execution – Just as the entire flat is clean the girl lures her boyfriend into the
bedroom to get him to lick her all over but when she goes to pour Carling on her
body she realizes that there is no more beer. The guy’s tongue goes limp, as he
clearly is not interested in anything but the beer
4. Mise-en-scene – A typical British flat shared with a girlfriend with what appears
to be all mod cons
5. Music/Sounds – Dominant sound is the song ‘Wild Thing’ by the Troggs. There is
also the unique ‘gulping’ sound at the beginning as the guy drinks his Carling out
of a glass
6. Themes – Humour and sex
North American Television Advertisements
Bud Light – Bad Dog – 30 seconds
Story Line
Two men meet in a campground in the woods. One appears to represent the upper class,
or preppy, who is well dressed with a sweater around his shoulders. The other man
42

43. appears middle class and more casually dressed, or average in appearance and dress. The
later compliments the dog owned by the preppy guy and he replies, ‘Yeah this is Piper, a
purebred boarder collie. Watch this.” The average guy watches the dog boarder collie
fetch a bottle of Bud Light from a monogrammed cooler several feet away and bring it to
his owner. As the preppy guy smugly enjoys his dog’s recent feet he smugly asks the
average guy, ‘What can your dog do?’ We have a closer look at the average man’s dog,
noticing it is a diminutive and scruffy looking mutt. The average man says ‘Fergus, Bud
Light’. The mutt lunges at the upper class guy’s groin and bites down, causing the
recently fetched beer to land in the average guy’s hand quickly followed by an insincere
“bad dog” statement to his mutt. We then see a product shot of a bottle of Bud Light
flying through the air with a black background, as if being tossed to a friend with the tag
line, “Fresh, Smooth, Real”. Finish has the preppy guy desperately pleaded for help to get
the dog off his groin.
Key Points/Messages
As stated in the second last tag-line “Fresh, Smooth, Real”, the beer is meant to represent
genuine qualities and align itself with someone who is not a braggart but by someone
who is ‘real’. If you drink Bud Light you are better than the upper class. Over-riding
message is that Bud Light is the common, genuine man’s beer and people with false airs
will get theirs in the end.
Further Analysis
1. Set-up – Two guys meet and clearly appear different, ‘upper class/preppy guy’
and ‘middle class/average guy’
2. Delivery- Preppy guy showing how his dog gets a beer when he says ‘fetch’
3. Execution – There are two moments of execution. The first is the average guy
responds to the question ‘What can your dog do?’ by saying ‘Fergus-Bud Light’
and the dog lunges at the other guys groin, you hear a crunching sound and the
beer gets tossed into the average guys hands. The second, subtler punch line is
43

44. when the average guy says ‘Bad dog’ with a grin on his face as he goes to open
his newly acquired beer
4. Mise en scene – Forest with cabin in the background (smoke coming out of
chimney)
5. Music/Sounds – No music but starts off birds singing (crows and songbirds). Only
strong noise is the crunch sound when Fergus lunges at preppy guy’s groin
6. Themes – Humor and camaraderie in the form of the dog, playing on the ‘man’s
best friend’ stereotype
Heineken – Birth of Posturing – 30 seconds
Story Line
The commercial opens at a party outdoors, looking very much like someone’s backyard,
with ‘old school’ hip-hop music playing. Within a couple of seconds it becomes apparent
this party is exclusively African American and the style of clothing is reminiscent of the
1980s.
The protagonist is seen moving around the party, saying ‘Hey’ to friends and then,
approaching a couple of women, he say’s ‘Hey Ladies’ with a broad smile and moves
over to a cooler. During this time we see numerous product shots of Heineken in the
bottle in the hands of partygoers. Our protagonist opens the cooler, moving his body to
the music, hands a Heineken to an unseen dancer and as he looks inside the cooler for
another beer the lid slams shut on his fingers, causing him to yell out ‘Damn’ and shake
his hands with his fingers outstretched.
The music picks up-tempo, the screen shot freezes and lettering comes across the screen
“July 11, 1985. The Birth of Posturing”. This establishes the time frame and helps
explain to the viewer the humour to follow.
The protagonist is on the edge of the dance floor (where the cooler was) and he is trying
to shake the pain away from his hands, which he happens to be doing this in time with the
44

45. beat. Two guys away from the dance floor see these ‘new moves’ and begin imitating our
injured protagonist. The joke continues as a girl walks by and our protagonist goes to
hide his pain, which all men should be able to identify with, by putting both hands under
his armpits but by standing confidently with feet wide apart. The two guys also copy this
‘move’ and nod knowingly as if they just witnessed, and participated, in the newest and
hippest motions, which was to be called, in later years, posturing.
‘It has to be Heineken’ comes across the screen, as if to imply that this ubiquitous style in
urban hip-hop culture originated with a guy getting his fingers slammed by a cooler door
at a backyard party because he was reaching for a Heineken. In the last second the
Heineken logo comes up on the screen.
Key Points/Messages
The hip-hop culture is known for it is creativity and development of styles. This
advertisement plays on that in a historical context, playing with the origination of
posturing, a popular way for males in the hip-hop world to show dominance. Of course
the humour lies in the fact that Heineken portrays it happening accidentally as some guy
got injured by having his hands in a beer cooler and was copied for having the ‘freshest’
new style of dancing.
This is Heineken using humour but also including a key demographic in the US market,
particularly on what is ‘cool’ to the 18-25 year old market.
Further Analysis
1. Set-up – An outdoor, hip-hop influenced party in the 1980s
2. Delivery – As the lead character grabs Heinekens out of the cooler the slamming
lid injures his fingers and he begins to seek relief by shaking his hands
3. Execution – As the protagonist deals with the pain he inadvertently influences two
guys in the distance to copy his ‘dance moves’, thus creating a popular trend in
the U.S., particularly in the hip-hop world
4. Mise-en-scene – A backyard house party
45

46. 5. Music/Sounds – ‘Old school’ sounding hip-hop playing at the party
6. Themes – Humour, sex, camaraderie and heritage
Miller –Twist – 30 seconds
Story Line
Starts with product shot and tag line ‘Twist’. First shot is of a window of an apartment in
an older brick building. The camera zooms into a small kitchen where a bald, overweight
man is walking to his fridge for beer in his underwear. The man looks at the top of beer
bottle with a look of bewilderment, puts the beer down and starts dancing or twisting in
front of the beer with funky 1970s music starting in background. As he keeps dancing he
keeps looking down at the beer. He dances more vigorously and then bends over, taking a
closer look at the top of the beer. The camera zooms in and we see the cap on the beer
says, ‘Lite Miller – Twist to open’. This explains why the guy is dancing in front of the
beer. The camera zooms back out of the apartment as we see the guy’s growing
frustration and more frantic dancing (implying that he believes increasing the pace of the
dancing is what is needed to open the beer).
Key Points/Messages
Miller is a beer for the average guy. The average guy, like all of us, can be a little
oblivious to the obvious. An average guy will do anything for a beer, including dancing
in his underwear alone in his kitchen. The setting is almost sad with a low income,
overweight man in undershirt and cheap apartment but with a nostalgic feel for times
gone by. The bottle still isn’t open by the end of the commercial.
Further Analysis
1. Set-up – A guy alone in his kitchen at night getting a bottle of beer
46

47. 2. Delivery – Guy begins dancing in front of the beer for some unknown reason
3. Execution – Camera zooms in to see ‘Twist to open’ explaining why the guy
is ‘twisting’ in front of the beer
4. Mise-en-scene – Nighttime, cheap urban apartment. Guy by himself
5. Music/Sounds – Urban street noises in background with funky 70s music in
background during dancing
6. Themes – Humour
Budweiser – Wassup – 60 seconds
Story Line
Opens with a guy lying back on the couch with a beer on his lap in front of the TV,
focused on some sort of sporting event on the television. The phone rings, he picks it up
and says ‘hello’.
2nd
guy – Hey Lou, What’s up
1st
guy – Nothing Bee. Just watching the game, having a Bud. Watchup with you?
2nd
guy – Nuttin’. Just watchin’ the game, having a Bud
1st
guy – True, true
Another guy enters the same room as the first guy and exclaims, ‘Wassuuuup!’
1st
guy to 3rd
guy – Wassuuuup
2nd
guy – yo, whossat?
1st
guy to 3rd
guy – Yo, pick up the phone!
3rd
guy, picks up the phone and says ‘hello’
2nd
guy – Wassuuuuuuuup
3rd
guy – Wassuuup
1st
guy – Wassuuup – they are all saying Wassuuup in unison.
3rd
guy – Yo, where’s Dookie? (to 2nd
guy)
2nd
guy yells – Yo, Dookie! (to his housemate upstairs in front of the computer)
Dookie picks up the phone and says ‘hello’
47

48. 3rd
guy says ‘Wasssuuuuup’
Dookie ‘Wassuuup’ and they all join in saying Wassuuuup
The door buzzer rings and the 3rd
guy puts the phone aside and says ‘hello’
The response is a 5th
friend outside with what looks like groceries saying ‘Wassuuup’
They all join in, sort of laughing while they say ‘Wassup’ in unison
The other guys all hang up and it finishes with the 1st
and 2nd
guy
1st
guy ‘So what’s up Bee?’
2nd
guy – ‘Watching the game having a Bud’
1st
guy – ‘True, true’
Finishes with a logo shot and the word ‘True’
This spot became legendary with additional commercials being spawned in the theme of
the ‘Wassup’ advertisement. Spoofs and parodies exist throughout the internet.
Budweiser responded to this cult following by touring the 5 guys in the advertisement
around the globe, promoting the brand on the popularity of the commercial.
Key Points/Messages
This is the epitome of a camaraderie themed commercial with 5 friends all joining in and
sharing a bonding moment with their own, fun, unique greeting that makes them all
smile. The ‘Wassup’ phrase is slang and explicitly male implying an almost fraternal
feeling of closeness in an informal atmosphere. Surprisingly, only 2 of the 5 guys in the
commercial are drinking Budweiser. Furthermore, this is a beer commercial that is heavy
with dialogue but with a very limited diction. Since dialogue appeared to play such an
important role in the advertisement the entire dialogue was included in the
deconstruction.
Further Analysis
1. Set-up – Two friends on the phone checking in on one another
48

49. 2. Delivery – More friends join in as the commercial progresses, sharing the
‘Wassup’ phrase
3. Execution – The final and fifth guy joins in from outside in a chorus of
‘Wassup!’
4. Mise en scene – An urban setting with 2 separate residences but with African
American actors as housemates
5. Music/Sounds – Sports game noise on TV in background but mostly silent for
dialogue and ‘Wassup!’
6. Theme – Camaraderie, humour and sport
Labatt Blue – Golf Balls – 30 seconds
Story Line
This commercial begins with a shot from above, with camera shaking slightly, focused on
a guy walking away from a building. In casual business dress, briefcase over his
shoulder, the guy heads across the street to his parked sports utility vehicle. As the guy
walks across the street we hear ‘there he goes’ from an excited and anxious voice with
muffled giggling in the background we are to assume belongs to the cameraman and a
second person. The second person says ‘this is going to be hilarious’. The viewer can
now assume that the voices are coming from the two guys holding the camera.
As the guy in the shot arrives at his sports utility vehicle he puts his coffee on the roof as
he goes to open the driver side door. As he goes to open his door the two guys say,
‘maybe he doesn’t see’, the other ‘nope he has no idea’ which is echoed by the other guy.
Just as he opens his vehicle door hundreds of golf balls come falling out, causing him to
stumble, and nearly fall. He can now hear loud laughter and looks up to the window
above at the camera that is filming him and he realizes he has been part of a practical joke
while he puts his arms out wide as if to ask, ‘Why?’
49

50. The pranksters are laughing hard and one yells out ‘Hey that’s littering!’
More infectious laughter comes from the pranksters as the victim surveys the damage and
tries to absorb the sheer magnitude of the prank.
The commercial then goes to a phrase ‘They tease you because they like you’
A quick shot of the hapless victim in the car with one of the pranksters yelling, ‘Don’t
forget you coffee’
Finish with a product shot of 3 bottles and a full glass with the Labatt Blue logo, still
laughing in the background with one voice trying to catch his breath, ‘Awe, that was
beautiful’.
Key Points/Messages
The premise of this commercial is friends playing practical jokes on one another. Males
understand that only men would go to such elaborate lengths to play such a practical joke
on their friends, paradoxically making the friendship bond stronger. This is a point of
difference between men and woman that Labatt is trying to capitalize on, stroking the
camaraderie theme.
The shaking camera affect is meant to imply this was actually a real prank among friends
and not a staged commercial. Golf balls were used, emphasizing the masculine theme.
Further Analysis
1. Set-up – Voyeuristic view of a guy going to his vehicle parked on the road
2. Delivery – Friends are videotaping him and whispering anxiously, waiting for
their friend to open his car door
3. Execution – Door opens, golf balls fall out and the prank is successful
4. Mise-en-scene – Average looking street, could be just about anywhere in NA
5. Music/Sounds – Laugher and dialogue, implying a genuine prank
6. Themes – Camaraderie and sport
50

51. Bud Light – Head in Fridge – 30 seconds
Story Line
Two guys are in a kitchen with a sports game being watched on TV. One guy is on all
fours, and we see, after a camera close up of his buttocks, that he is using tools that are
being handed to him casually by his friend. The guy on all fours is very engaged in
something, as if he is fixing a plumbing problem. We soon see he is trying to break into
the fridge in the next apartment by going through cupboards, etc. not unlike the famous
war movie The Great Escape. As he breaks in he says to his friend ‘I’m in’. The camera
then spins around showing the ‘tunnel’ he has made to the fridge in the adjoining
apartment. A female in the next apartment approaches her fridge, opens the door and
screams in horror because, as we soon see, she see a man’s head in her fridge. A man in
the second apartment, we can assume is the boyfriend or husband goes to see what made
the woman scream. He opens the fridge door and he screams just as loud but when the
camera looks inside the fridge we see that the head is gone and he is screaming because
his Bud Light is missing.
The commercial cuts to a bottle of Bud Light against a black background and a narrator
saying ‘For the great taste of beer that will never let you down…’
We see the guys we first saw casually watching the game on the TV and one guy says to
the other, ‘We are out of dip’. The guy who broke into the fridge initially goes back to
breaking into the neighbours’ fridge again, asking for pliers.
The voice over then finishes with the statement, ‘…make it a Bud Light’ with the logo on
a bottle cap.
51

52. Key Points/Messages
The premise is that guys will do anything for beer, including an elaborate break-in to get
their neighbours’ six bottles of Bud Light.
Further Analysis
1. Set-up – Two guys in a kitchen with a sports game on, as one guy appears to fix
something
2. Delivery – The guy fixing something breaks into the neighbours’ fridge, through
the wall, to steal their beer but gets caught by the female neighbour who only sees
a strange man’s head in her fridge
3. Execution – When the male neighbour (boyfriend or husband) goes to investigate
why the girl screamed he lets out a similar scream when he finds his beer is
missing
4. Mise-en-scene – Urban apartments or perhaps semi-detached homes
5. Music/Sounds – Sports game on TV in the apartment of the beer ‘bandits’
6. Themes – Humour, sport, and camaraderie
52

53. Summa
ry of
Theme
s
Within
Selecte
d
Televisi
on
Adverti
sement
s
Themes Humour Camaraderie Sport Sex Heritage
Commercials
Europe
Heineken - 3 Generations X X X
Amstel - Man or Woman X X X X
Beck's - Raw Eggs X
Heineken - Flexible Dancing X X
Tuborg - Beer Goggles X X
United Kingdom
John Smith's - Top Bombing X X
Carling - Cracking X X
Carlsberg - Ultimate Holiday X X X
Stella Artois - Old Man X X X
Carling - Frustrating X X
Carlsberg - Flatmates X X X X
North America
Bud Light - Good Dog X X
Labatt Blue - Golf Balls X X X
Miller - Twist X
Budweiser - Wassup X X X
Bud Light - Head in Fridge X X X
Heineken - Birth of Posturing X X X
Note: X Denotes the indication of the theme is present in the advertisement
Although physical contact wasn’t part of the study it can be noted that when sex, as a
theme, was part of the advertisement, there was actually no physical contact with the
opposite sex in the seventeen advertisements studied. There was, interestingly enough,
erotic touching of the two females in the European Beck’s commercial. Whether this is a
53

54. coincidence or not will have to be deduced upon further research however it might
indicate that the advertiser wants to keep the product as the focus of the advertisement as
any lewd sexual touching may distract from the brand.
Certainly there was an attempt by every commercial to engage the viewer in an
entertaining way. The challenge perhaps was to entertain in a short time frame, 30
seconds or longer for UK or European commercials.
Camaraderie and humour appear to be dominant themes in all three markets studied. Of
the seventeen advertisements analyzed, only one commercial is void of the theme of
humour while only four advertisements are void of camaraderie.
Interestingly, the themes of sport and sex appear to be the themes providing a point of
difference in how the brand message is conveyed. Three of the five selected European
commercials used sex as a theme while only one NA commercial employed it.
Sport as a theme was strong in the NA advertisements appearing more often than the
other two markets. European advertisements only used sport once, out of five, as a theme.
The theme appeared twice, out of six, in the UK market.
Furthermore, the UK market uses sports nearly as often as the NA market while also
using sex more liberally, appearing three times out of six, only slightly less concentrated
than the European market which used it three out of five times.
Discussion
The three markets studied, as addressed earlier, have a strong potential to posses
commonalities due to their current and historical ties as the ‘Western world’ yet there are
clearly differences in the thematic messages that are currently employed to develop
flagship beer brands in their respective markets. The advertising language beer marketers
54

55. have used in these markets appear to have significant differences and therefore one can
assume that if a brewer hopes to reach out to the beer consumer successfully in these
markets a hybrid approach looks to hold the most promise.
Humour and camaraderie both appear to be strong themes in all markets and these two
concepts might be enough for the brewer to successfully reach across markets however
other themes such as sports and sex appear in stark contrast to one another, sex being a
popular theme within the UK and Europe but only appearing once in a NA beer
advertisement. Sport, as was mentioned earlier, has a dominant presence in NA
advertising. It would be difficult to conceive of a beer brand growing in NA, particularly
the US, without being tied to sports in to some degree.
Humour, as a recurring theme is difficult to measure or even explain in the academic
context. Certainly it can be understood that there is exclusive and inclusive humour.
Brewers frequently use exclusive humour as a tool access the targeted demographic, such
as young males. An example of this exclusive humour is seen in the Heineken ‘Birth of
Posturing’ commercial. The use of the hip-hop genre would strike a chord with fans of
the music or at least those aware of it, while others may only find the commercial only
slightly amusing. Here again the marketer must decide how the message is delivered.
Inclusive humour can strike resonance with a certain demographics but risk excluding
others. Does broader, or inclusive, humour serve the brand better? Again, this question is
for another study to address however it should be understood that themes, although
important to the message, are complex in themselves.
The ‘three-guy rule’ that was addressed earlier appears to be a key component of the
camaraderie theme for beer commercials. Brewers are reticent to include demographics
that are outside the traditional market for beer, young males. Any association with other
demographics, such as women representing roughly half the population, can change the
image of the brand to loyal beer drinkers and possibly damaging future sales.
55