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Budweiser cancelled its Super Bowl ad and donated the money to fight COVID anti-vaxxers

via Budweiser

Budweiser beer, and its low-calorie counterpart, Bud Light, have created some of the most memorable Super Bowl commercials of the past 37 years.

There were the Clydesdales playing football and the poor lost puppy who found its way home because of the helpful horses. Then there were the funny frogs who repeated the brand name, "Bud," "Weis," "Er."

We can't forget the "Wassup?!" ad that premiered in December 1999, spawning the most obnoxious catchphrase of the new millennium.

And who amongst us hasn't lost a bet on the Bud Bowl?

i.gifer.com

However, when you turn on the TV on February 7 to watch Tom Brady's Buccaneers go up against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, you won't find a 30-second TV spot from Budweiser beer.

Instead, the beer's parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBev, has decided to donate portions of its advertising budget this year to the Ad Council, a nonprofit heading a $50 million campaign to fight back against COVID-19 vaccine skepticism.

The current cost of a 30-second TV ad during the Super Bowl on CBS is roughly $5.5 million.

The decision comes at a time when shares of AB InBev have fallen 14.5% over the past year. Although at-home beer consumption has risen during the pandemic, COVID-19 has drastically reduced the sales of alcohol in bars and at sporting events.

via Jessica Merz / Flickr

"For the first time in 37 years, Budweiser isn't airing a commercial during the Super Bowl. Instead, we're redirecting our advertising dollars to support COVID-19 vaccines awareness and education," a spokesperson said in a statement. "Working with partners like the Ad Council and COVID Collaborative, we're helping to safely bring people back together again soon.

Who knew that America's most iconic beer would one day lead the fight against anti-vaxxers?

In the run-up to the big game, the beer brand has created a 90-second online pro-vaccination ad voiced by "The Office" star Rashida Jones. In the ad, Jones urges viewers to "turn our strength into hope" while "Lean on Me" plays in the background.

Bigger Picture | Budweiser Super Bowl Commercialwww.youtube.com

Last November, the Ad Council and COVID Collaborative, a coalition of experts in health, education, and the economy, launched the vaccine education campaign

At the time, polls showed that 40% of Americans were not confident in a potential vaccine. That level of vaccine skepticism could seriously endanger any chance of a full recovery.

"Frankly, this is the biggest public health crisis we've ever faced, and we don't have time to waste," said Lisa Sherman, the group's chief executive. "We're working in advance so that once those vaccines are proven to be safe and approved by all the right people, we're ready to go."

The Ad Council launched a similar campaign back in the 1950s when it was tasked with encouraging Americans to get vaccinated against polio.

Budweiser isn't the only Super Bowl regular to pull its ads from this year's broadcast. PepsiCo and Coca-Cola have said they won't be running ads during the broadcast. Although Pepsi will be sponsoring the halftime show.

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Helen Mirren slams drunk drivers in this epic, hilarious Super Bowl ad.

Yet another reason to love Helen Mirren.

If you've ever had one too many and gotten behind the wheel of a car, Dame Helen Mirren has a few choice words for you.

The world's indisputable favorite f-bomb-dropping, manspread surviving British actor recently shot a Super Bowl ad for Budweiser that combats drunk driving. And, boy, was it good.

She gets straight to the point:

GIFs via Budweiser/YouTube.

The PSA racked up more than 180,000 views in just the one day after it was posted to YouTube. And it's no mystery why.

There are exactly three reasons this Super Bowl PSA is a total win:

1. Mirren knows the power of being incredibly blunt with a British accent.

2. She really doesn't hold back at all. Like, at all.

3. She brings it back to what's most important — doing what's right for your loved ones, and yourself, and staying away from the driver's seat when you've been drinking.

GIFs via Budweiser/YouTube.

Here's the full text of the PSA:

"Hello. I'm Helen Mirren, a notoriously frank and uncensored British lady. The collective we are dumbfounded that people still drive drunk. So I'll sum it up like this. If you drive drunk, you, simply put, are a short-sighted, utterly useless, oxygen-wasting human form of pollution. A Darwin award-deserving, selfish coward. If your brain was donated to science, science would return it. So stop it. Now the chances are you're a fun, solid, respectable human being. Don't be pillock. Your friends and family thank you. The friends and family of other drivers thank you. Your future self thanks you. This is suppose to be fun. Cheers."

In the time it took Mirren's PSA to garner over 180,000 views, almost 30 people have died from drunk driving — one death every 53 minutes — according to the stats.

Mirren hilariously slamming drunk drivers? That's something we can all get behind. Actual fatalities from drunk driving? Not so funny. On average, 27 people die in the U.S. every day in a crash involving an impaired driver, according to the NHTSA.

Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images.

Maybe the seriousness of the issue is in part why certain anti-drunk driving ads by alcoholic beverage companies are resonating with people.

This isn't the first time Budweiser has used its Super Bowl ad to strike a chord with consumers through a drunk driving PSA. Remember that one with an adorable dog from 2014?

It sent a powerful message to puppy-loving beer drinkers: Crash at a friend's house instead of driving home drunk (and, also, apologize to your pet after doing so).

GIF via Budweiser/YouTube.

But shouldn't all alcoholic beverage companies bear some responsibility in curbing drunk driving?

Plenty of people seem to think so, and that includes Katherine Clegg Smith, the lead author of a 2014 study that found not one of the 1,795 ads for alcoholic beverage in her research gave specifics on how to drink responsibly.

Sure, those ads came with messages like "enjoy in moderation," and "please drink responsibly," but — seeing as consuming alcohol can pose a significant and immediate health risk — shouldn't they be required to go a bit further into detail?

“If you want to warn people against something, you need to be clear about what you’re warning them against and why,” Smith told The Kansas City Star in 2014, noting that health warnings must be specific to actually modify how people think and behave regarding the product.

Mirren's PSA doesn't lay out specifics, but she does spell out what type of person you'll be if you get behind the wheel of a car after drinking.

The next time you even entertain the idea about driving drunk, remember what Helen Mirren thinks of you. Hopefully that'll keep you safe and sound and most importantly off the roads.

Check out Mirren's Budweiser ad below: