Dive Brief:

• Stella Artois, an Anheuser-Busch InBev brand, has partnered with “Hot Ones” to serve as the official beer of the YouTube celebrity talk show, according to a press release. A special episode featuring brand ambassador, rapper and actor Ludacris is available now. 
• As sponsor of the First We Feast-produced program, Stella Artois will appear in five episodes throughout the summer and has a series of activations planned for bars around the country. The beverage marketer will also have a presence at the first “Hot Ones” event in front of a live audience. 
• The collaboration is built around the popularity of wings in bars and the idea of bringing people together over a meal, a common theme in Stella Artois’ marketing. The effort shows the beer brand leaning on pop culture to engage with consumers. 

Dive Insight:

Stella Artois has long put a focus on restaurant dining, with 40% of its 2022 sales occurring on-premise. Now, the brand is looking to build off its “Let’s Do Dinner” platform, which centers on partnerships and events designed to create connections over a meal, with a summer-long marketing push around bars and the mega-popular “Hot Ones” program.

The tie-up kicks off with a special “Hot Ones” installment profiling Ludacris, with a pre-roll ad featuring host Sean Evans plugging Stella Artois and the beer displayed prominently during the YouTube interview. “Hot Ones” reaches 1.5 billion YouTube viewers, per details shared with Marketing Dive, and over half (55%) of that audience sits in Stella Artois’ target demographic. 

“With this partnership, we are excited to be part of the cultural conversation and reach more audiences in bars around the country, where we will continue to reinforce our reputation as one of the highest quality, sessionable beers in the market,” said Chris Jones, group vice president of marketing of premium brands at Anheuser-Busch, in a press statement.

Later in the summer, Stella Artois and the producer of “Hot Ones” will host an event in Chicago featuring Evans, who will be joined by a high-profile brand ambassador and other celebrities. This is the first event for the YouTube show that will have a live audience and the beer brand sending 10 grand-prize contest winners to attend.

The collaboration with “Hot Ones,” a series that continues to draw attention with a format that sees celebrities answering a series of questions about their careers while eating increasingly hot wings, is a way to tie Stella Artois to a culturual phenomenon while reinforcing its brand messaging around sharing experiences over a meal.