Budweiser's digital holiday card drives anti-drunk driving message, Prohibition trial

Dive Brief:

Budweiser rolled out a multi-channel campaign to promote its new alcohol-free beer brand and support the U.K. Department for Transport efforts to address drunk driving around the holidays, according to Netimperative.
The Budweiser Prohibition brew is featured in out-of-home and online placements in the U.K. throughout December, with holiday-themed messages such as "'Tis the season to drive home safely" and "We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new beer." People can also receive free samples of the beverage through printing a digital Christmas card online to be redeemed in participating stores in England and Wales.
This is the first time parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev has tied a specific product to a drunk-driving campaign, according to Marketing Week.

Dive Insight:

Budweiser hits a number of trending marketing tactics with its latest campaign in the U.K. The effort fits into the seasonal trend of good tidings and cause-related topics, in this case bringing attention to the issue of drunk driving around the holidays. The new alcohol-free product itself is a nod to AB InBev's Global Smart Drinking goals, a global effort to reduce alcohol abuse and misuse with $1 billion in marketing campaigns over the next 10 years.

This year's holiday campaign by Budweiser combines digital and OOH installments to spread its responsible driving message while promoting the new brew, which debuted in the U.K. this fall. With the downloadable Christmas card tie-in for consumers to redeem for free samples, Budweiser is looking to encourage people to test the new brew, a smart move as one major challenge for the non-alcoholic beer industry is that many consumers doubt the flavor will be the same as a classic beer.

The monthlong push nicely sets up Budweiser for the "dry January" movement in which many U.K. consumers abstain from alcohol in the new year and may be looking for alcohol-free alternatives like the brand's Prohibition brew.

This isn't Budweiser's first time leveraging the annual holiday season to share a responsible driving message. Last year, the company partnered with Uber for OOH installments that displayed a coupon code for a customer's free first ride.