Do Budweiser’s Customers Talk Like This?
June 3rd, 2008 by Bob Bly
The tag line of Budweiser’s new campaign is:
SUPERIOR DRINKABILITY.
I don’t think I’ve ever, in my half century of living, heard anyone, anywhere, use the word “drinkability” when describing a beer or any other beverage.
If you accept the premise that copy should be written in the prospect’s language, then Bud’s new slogan fails the test.
But what’s YOUR opinion of Budweiser’s “Superior Drinkability” — good, bad, or terrible?
This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008 at 5:11 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:45 pm
I have NEVER said ‘drinkability’ in my life.
I may not drink Budweiser, but I have not let slip past over my lips that word about any beverage, alcoholic or otherwise.
I think they may be trying to be ‘cute’ or ‘creative’ to the detriment of clarity.
Only time will tell if drinkers get confused or deterred form the product as a result, or whether Budweiser drinkers simply don’t care about the slogan.
I will certainly be interested in seeing how things pan out for the company.
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June 3rd, 2008 at 10:11 pm
You’re right about the rule, but this might be the exception to it. The whole reason for the tag line is to get attention. The novelty does that. And I don’t think clarity is really sacrificed. Everyone will know they are claiming to have a superior drink.
I am not commenting on the credibility of the tag line, btw.
June 4th, 2008 at 3:57 am
bly.com/blog
June 4th, 2008 at 6:39 am
“Superior drinkability” might work as a tongue-in-cheek slogan for an English import, especially with John Cleese or Rowan Atkinson delivering it.
For the big mass-market American brew … it doesn’t fit.
June 4th, 2008 at 9:43 am
But you have to admire them on the syllable count: no fewer than 9! Wow … my hat is off.
June 4th, 2008 at 10:08 am
Not only is it couched in language I’ve never heard used by real-life human beings, it also fails to create any clear picture or feel for the experience of drinking a Bud, it’s completely devoid of emotion and, honestly, it’s so unmemorable, halfway though writing this sentence I had to check back to recall exactly what it was.
Oh, thats right, “superior drinkability.” Well, I’m sure everyone will define that term preciesly the way it was intended, too. Put 100 beer drinkers in a room and ask them what the slogan means and you’ll get 50 different answers plus 50 glazed looks and shoulder shrugs.
C’mon people, that’s the best Madison Ave can do?
Why don’t they just say, “Bud, it goes down easy?”
June 4th, 2008 at 10:19 am
And yet, they have achieved at least part of their goal, because here we all are…
Talking about Budweiser…
This Bud’s For You Mr. Sloganmaker who has us all talking about his product.
June 4th, 2008 at 10:23 am
Well, it did get publicity, right? I think it delivers nothing but being weird or strange. That means it will grab attention now but will be completely useless in a few months from now. So for short term, fine, for long term, terrible.
Creating a word or a phrase can be clever, specially if you succeed in making it a part of the common language. But I doubt this one will be one of the few that do.
June 4th, 2008 at 10:24 am
I’ve never heard anyone say “drinkability” but I have heard “drinkable” — it’s what we used to say when I was a younger, drunker man about beer that wasn’t completely awful but wasn’t particularly good, either. In that sense, Bud’s slogan is dead on the money, though I’m not sure that’s a “feature” I’d build my brand on…
June 4th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
I guess “BARELY POTABLE” was taken.
June 4th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Dumb saying. Overall though their commercials are good and I’d even say their radio ads are terrific (“Here’s to you Mr. Foam-Finger Maker”).
June 4th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
I think that “drinkability” is a great word, if you are an advertiser targeting hillbillies.
For some reason, the tone of that term hearkens back to “Billy Beer.”
Here’s to drinkability!
Cheers,
David
June 6th, 2008 at 8:46 am
I agree with Dustin that “drinkable” is hardly a selling feature. I’ve used the term myself referring to a wine; you could drink it, but you probably wouldn’t go looking for it again. The word “superior” doesn’t make the term any more appealing.
Miller too has an ad showing actors casually saying something no real person (at least, anyone I know) would. A man asks his date if she’d like an “MGD.” It took me a minute or two to figure out that this was short for Miller Genuine Draft. Sorry, real people offer a Miller, or maybe they just say “beer” first and specify which brands are on hand later.
October 22nd, 2008 at 8:20 pm
“Drinkability”? Drink-able is a pretty lame positioning statement. Doesn’t everyone assume that all beer is at least drink-able (i.e., not poisonous or so bad tasting you’re going to gag on it and spit it out. Kind of like saying, “buy Firestone tires, they’re round,” or “buy a Chevy, it’s got an engine.” Probably the worst slogan to come along since “An Army of one.”
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