America has long been a place where people reinvent (and rename) themselves. In this spirit, Jones Knowles Ritchie has helped change Budweiser’s identity, literally, to “America.” In addition to the name, the change encompasses packaging, advertising and a new “America is in Your Hands” tagline. The rebrand is, of course, temporary, lasting from Memorial Day through Election Day in a “patriotic salute” to this yuuge year in US politics and sports.
The new design is the focus of a seasonal campaign—“America is in Your Hands”— which intends to evoke the optimism upon which the country has been built. The “America” cans and bottles will star in the brand’s new national television spots as well. Budweiser is also unveiling new cans and bottles featuring a magnified view of the Statue of Liberty’s torch, inspired by Team Budweiser, the brand’s six Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls.
Comments Ricardo Marques, vice president, Budweiser: “We are embarking on what should be the most patriotic summer that this generation has ever seen, with Copa America Centenario being held on U.S. soil for the first time, Team USA competing at the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games,” said . “Budweiser has always strived to embody America in a bottle, and we’re honored to salute this great nation where our beer has been passionately brewed for the past 140 years.” Tosh Hall, a creative director at JKR explained to Fast Co: “We thought nothing was more iconic than Budweiser and nothing was more iconic than America.”
Jones Knowles Ritchie is a global design firm with offices in London, New York, Singapore and Shanghai. The client is Anheuser-Busch, which is, in turn, owned by Belgium-based InBev. The decision has already generated ripples with Twitter atwitter criticizing beer-fueled patriotism and Donald Trump taking credit for inspiring the name change.
