Bud Light revives '90s ad series and brews music-infused beer on Twitch

Dive Brief:

Bud Light will livestream on its Twitch channel the brewing of a special batch of "Gloria Brew" to celebrate the first championship for the NHL's St. Louis Blues, according to a press release. The limited-edition beer's regular ingredients will be "infused" with the sound of the Blue's unofficial victory anthem, Laura Branigan's "Gloria."
The tune will be played constantly during the brewing process with headphones placed on the brewing tank, which was signed by the championship team. Local St. Louis fans are encouraged to visit the brewery to witness the beer's creation.
Meanwhile, Bud Light is updating its "Real Men of Genius" commercial series from the late 1990s and early 2000s that mock-celebrated characters like "Mr. Really Bad Toupee Wearer," "Mr. Pro Wrestling Wardrobe Designer" and "Mr. Really Really Really Bad Dancer." The new "Internet Heroes of Genius" includes "Person Still Using Their Middle School Email," "Person Who Accidentally Went Viral," "Corporate Social Media Manager," "Snapchat Lens Creator" and more, according to materials provided to Marketing Dive.

Dive Insight:

Bud Light is mining nostalgia on two fronts, both with the revival of its turn-of-the-millennium campaign and an effort focused on a hit 1982 song that's returned to the cultural consciousness thanks to the Blues' Stanley Cup win. Nostalgia allows marketers to engage consumers that enjoyed the cultural artifacts the first time around. It has become a popular tactic for marketers recently, especially with the forthcoming return of Netflix hit "Stranger Things." Set in the 1980s, the show has been somewhat of a goldmine for revisits to long-forgotten campaigns, including a resurrection of one of the most famous marketing flops, New Coke.

Bud Light's update to "Real Men of Genius" is the latest campaign to hark back to actual marketing efforts from the past. Burger King and Budweiser last year revived Bud's classic "Whassup" campaign to promote a limited-edition sandwich at the burger chain. Similarly, pro skateboarder Tony Hawk this month reprised a 2002 partnership with Bagel Bites in a new Father's Day-oriented campaign.

Meanwhile, the "Gloria Brew" campaign jumps on another trend by leveraging Twitch, the Amazon-owned livestreaming platform. Begun as a channel for watching livestreams of video games, and acquired by Amazon in 2015, Twitch is quickly becoming a key outlet for advertisers.

Bud Light competitor Miller Lite last week launched its own Twitch channel, which featured a live competitive gaming event. The NFL, a major partner of Bud Light parent AB InBev, has livestreamed games on Twitch and has tapped popular video gamer Tyler "Ninja" Blevins" for play-by-play commentary. Likewise, Procter & Gamble's Gillette in March announced a partnership with Twitch to create content for the brand by 11 video gamers.