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Budweiser, popularly referred to as Bud, is the primary brand of beer made by Anheuser-Busch. Budweiser is a pale lager made with a proportion of rice as an substitute adjunct for barley malt, for which it has received some criticism, though the company takes the position that the rice gives the beer a lighter taste. Bud is produced in various breweries located around the United States and the rest of the world. It is a filtered beer available in draught and packaged forms.

Market share

Anheuser-Busch has a market share in the United States of about 50% for all beers sold. The company's 2005 annual report cites figures which demonstrate Budweiser brands are proving to be quite successful in three markets outside of the U.S.:

• in China, where Anheuser-Busch has had a brewery in Wuhan since 1995, 3.4 million barrels of Budweiser were brewed in 2005.
• in Canada, where Labatt Brewing Company brews and packages Budweiser and Bud Light for the Canadian market; Budweiser has been the country's number one brand for two years.
• In the United Kingdom, where Anheuser-Busch leases the Stag Brewery in Mortlake, Budweiser is the number one on-premise, premium packaged lager in bars, pubs, clubs and restaurants.

Budweiser is also widely available in Mexico due to Anheuser-Busch's half-ownership of Grupo Modelo, through which Budweiser and Bud Light (introduced in 1982) are distributed. In Ireland, Budweiser is the one of the leading lager brands; it is brewed, marketed, and sold by Guinness. Budweiser is also available in Italy and Argentina because of partnerships Anheuser-Busch has with major brewers there.

Marketing

Budweiser is one of the major breweries that emphasizes humorous advertising campaigns, such as the "Real Men of Genius" radio commercials for Bud Light, recently moved to television. The spots feature an over-the-top, 1980s-style rock ballad sung by David Bickler, the former lead singer of "Survivor," describing ordinary activities as if they were heroic. The campaign originally was called "Real American Heroes," but the name was changed after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Some Bud advertising campaigns have entered the popular culture in the United States. They include a long line of TV advertisements in the 1990s featuring three frogs named "Bud", "Weis", and "Er", and a campaign built around the phrase "Whassup?". The company is known for its sports sponsorships, video game sponsorship (Tapper), and (often) humorous advertisements. Advertising campaigns have also included a nude Ganymede grasping a beer bottle and borne aloft by a bald eagle, lizards impersonating the "Bud-weis-er" frogs, and Clydesdale horses. Budweiser is also the long time sponsor of NASCAR Driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

Bottle

The Budweiser bottle is a rather familiar icon to most Americans. The bottle has remained relatively unchanged since its introduction in 1876.

The top label is red and currently reads "Budweiser King of Beers". The top of the main label is red with a white banner with a pledge on it, which has changed three times. Below the banner is a coat of arms of sorts, which once had the Conrad and Co. logo on it, and now features an Anheuser-Busch stylization. Below that is a large white box. In this box the words "Budweiser Lager (King of) Beer(s) Brewed by our original (all natural) (Budweiser) process from the Choicest Hops, Rice, and Best Barley (Malt)" (words in parentheses have been added or removed over time).

The words "Anheuser Busch" and "St. Louis Mo" appear in this box as well.

The Budweiser Credo

The original Budweiser pledge reads "We guarantee that this beer is brewed especially for our own trade according to the Budweiser process of choicest hops, best barley and rice. This beer is brewed in St. Louis and warranted to keep in any climate. Take notice that all crowns are branded with our trade-mark." The last sentence was altered slightly in the early 1900s to read: "Take notice that all crowns bear our trade-mark."

It was altered again, albeit briefly to read as follows: "We guarantee that this beverage is healthful, refreshing, nutritious, free from bacteria, fully matured and aged, will keep in any climate, and fermented (?) in St. Louis. Take note that all crowns bear our "A" and "Eagle" trade mark". This pledge was reverted to the second pledge after only a few years.

The current pledge was placed on the bottle some time around the end of the Second World War. It reads: "This is the famous Budweiser beer. We know of no brand produced by any other brewer which costs so much to brew and age. Our exclusive Beechwood Aging produces a taste, a smoothness and drinkability you will find in no other beer at any price."

The name

See also Budweiser Budvar.

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With globalization of brands, the existence of the Czech beer of the same name has caused problems in some markets. A long-standing agreement with the Czech brewer divided the rights to the name "Budweiser", so that the Anheuser-Busch product is marketed as "Bud" (in France and elsewhere) and "Anheuser-Busch B" (Germany), where the Czech beer has the rights to the name. Anheuser-Busch has made offers to buy out the Czech brewing company in order to secure global rights to the name "Budweiser" for both beers, but the Czech government has refused all such offers, considering keeping the Budweiser name Czech to be a matter of national pride.

The rights to use the name in the U.S. were purchased by founders of the company. They chose "Budweiser" because it was German-sounding and would appeal to other German immigrants, and it was easy for Americans to pronounce.

The beer

Unlike most early beers, which used only barley, hops, yeast and water, Budweiser is brewed using rice and Beechwood chips in addition to the four major ingredients. The Beechwood chips, according to Budweiser, creates a smoother taste, while rice has since been known to the beer world to produce a "clean finish". Rice is an ingredient utilized by many brewers because it is a less expensive ingredient than malted barley, rye, or other grains. Some, however, have described the beer as being "bland" while others argue that Budweiser Budvar has a superior taste .

Budweiser family

Anheuser-Busch brews several brands of beer:

• The Budweiser Family
  • Budweiser
  • Budweiser Select
  • Bud Light (introduced in 1982)
  • Bud Dry
  • Bud Ice
  • Bud Ice Light
• The Michelob Family
  • Michelob
  • Michelob Light
  • Michelob Ultra
  • Michelob Ultra Amber
  • Michelob Honey Lager
  • Michelob AmberBock
  • Michelob Golden Draft
  • Michelob Golden Draft Light
• Busch Family
  • Busch
  • Busch Light
  • Busch Ice
• The Natural Family
  • Natural Light
  • Natural Ice
  • Natural Plus
• Specialty Beers
  • B^E
  • Bare Knuckle Stout
  • Anheuser World Lager
  • ZiegenBock
  • ZiegenLight
• Non-alcoholic
  • O'Doul's
  • O'Doul's Amber
  • Busch NA

Budweiser in the news

Due to an ongoing lawsuit with Budweiser Budvar, using the name Budweiser by Anheuser-Busch in Germany is prohibited. This has led to some problems for Anheuser-Busch, as they are the official beer sponsor of the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany, a country known for its rich beer heritage. Therefore Anheuser-Busch's flagship beer - Budweiser - will have to be sold under the name Anheuser Bud. In an effort to garner some positive press and due to complaints Bud sounding too much like Bit, Anheuser-Busch allows German brewery Bitburger to serve their beer at the World Cup matches. The problem Anheuser-Busch has with selling their flagship beer to Germans is that traditional brewers serve beer with only the four main ingredients (water, hops, wheat and barley). However, Budweiser is made with rice and thus Germans resist beer not produced according to the regulations of the "Reinheitsgebot". Currently, beers not produced according to the regulations of the "Reinheitsgebot" are widely available in Germany. Nevertheless, most Germans prefer European-style beers as they taste distinctively different from American beer.

External links

• Budweiser official website
• Anheuser Busch corporate website, including its
• annual report

• Anheuser-Busch
• 1876 introductions
• NASCAR sponsors