Budweiser rebrands itself as ‘America’ for the summer

Budweiser will re-label bottles and cans with “America” this summer. (Photo via Budweiser)

Here’s some bad news for anyone looking to kick back with a cold Budweiser and forget about the presidential election this summer. Starting May 23, the King of Beers will relabel its cans and bottles with the word “America” to remind beer drinkers nationwide that “America is in Your Hands.”

According to a press release from Budweiser’s St. Louis-based brewer, Anheuser-Busch (which has been owned by the Belgian company InBev since 2008), the patriotic packaging — which also will include lines from “America the Beautiful” and the Pledge of Allegiance — is aimed at inspiring drinkers “to celebrate America and Budweiser’s shared values of freedom and authenticity.”

Here's to America the beautiful. Hold her high this summer. #ThisBudsForYou pic.twitter.com/6uUd92MTJB

— Budweiser (@Budweiser) May 10, 2016

New billboards, television spots, digital advertisements and other marketing tools will feature the star-spangled bottles and cans. And while it will launch just in time for what Budweiser Vice President Ricardo Marques called “the most patriotic summer that this generation has ever seen,” the “America is in Your Hands” campaign will continue through the presidential election this November. From May 23 through mid-September, Budweiser will also sell cans and bottles with the Statue of Liberty’s torch emblazoned on the label.

“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,” Marques said.

Not everyone is taking the campaign quite so seriously, however. Budweiser’s announcement quickly made the rounds on social media Tuesday morning, prompting plenty of jokes about the beer’s new summer look.

I actually do think Budweiser is America.

— kelsey mckinney (@mckinneykelsey) May 10, 2016

Wake me up when they change the name of America to Budweiser.

— Luke O'Neil (@lukeoneil47) May 10, 2016

Like America the country, Budweiser the beer is only sometimes tolerable and will make you fat. https://t.co/kxAOCUNIm4

— Erin Gloria Ryan (@morninggloria) May 10, 2016

Budweiser customer service woefully unprepared for questions about civilian casualties of extrajudicial drone strikes.

— Huge Mantis (@HugeMantis) May 10, 2016

Silly as the campaign may seem, New York Magazine’s Grub Street blog noted that it could also help Budweiser promote the fact that its beer is actually brewed in the United States.