Ad spend of selected beer manufacturers in the U.S. 2020

The top two advertising spenders among beer manufacturers in the United States in 2020 were Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) and Constellation Brands. The latter spent 344 million U.S dollars on U.S. measured media in 2020, whereas Anheuser-Busch invested approximately 354 million dollars. That year, the producer of brands such as Budweiser, Bud Light and Stella Artois generated a global revenue of 46.9 billion U.S. dollars and produced around 530 million hectoliters of beverages, out of which some 20 percent was manufactured in North America.

Anheuser-Busch InBev – the largest beer advertiser in the U.S.

   In 2017, Anheuser-Busch spent a total of 1.53 billion U.S. dollars on advertising in the United States, including spending on traditional and online media. The figure was considerably smaller than in 2016, most likely in response to political uncertainty in the U.S. and slower growth of GDP, yet remained fairly in line with previous years’ expenditures. Since then, the company's ad spend has been flat at around 1.5 billion dollars.
Based on beer consumer responses, the majority of them discover beverage brands via TV advertising. This trend is especially prominent among Budweiser and Bud Light drinkers. Unsurprisingly, AB InBev invests significant amounts in this medium, seeing that each year the company takes the spot of the largest Super Bowl advertiser. As a result, millions of Super Bowl viewers still recall Budweiser’s 2014 Puppy Love commercial to this day.