MAKING OF

After receiving backlash for its partnership with trans actor and social media star Dylan Mulvaney, Budweiser has released a new patriotic ad featuring its signature Clydesdale horse mascot

- JOHN KENNEY

The ad shows the Clydesdale galloping past patriotic symbols, such as people raising an American flag and the Lincoln Memorial.

—CBS News. 

A Zoom call.

WRITER: We open on a horse. Cut to, like, a farmer. Then a welder. Then a man on a horse. Maybe a jockey. We hear a voice-over. Reciting the Gettysburg Address.

ART DIRECTOR: I like that.

ACCOUNT EXEC: Does that make any sense, though?

STRATEGIST: Maybe let’s back up. Just to recap. We need something that appeals to our base. Sends a clear message about who we are as a beer and as a brand. American. Masculine. Tough.

EXEC: While at the same time deeply feminine and open to new and exciting sexual ideas.

STRATEGIST: Exactly.

EXEC: While also using horses.

STRATEGIST: A win would be a spot that almost says something but doesn’t.

WRITER: What about this? We open on a field. Midwest. One of those places they grow wheat or whatever. A lone farmer. He runs his hand over the tops of the wheat.

ART DIRECTOR: Yes. Yes. And maybe we notice—it’s subtle—maybe we notice that his bare muscular chest is gleaming with sweat.

WRITER: Yes. That’s very good. And we pull back to reveal another farmer. Also male. Also half nude and insanely fit. And he has a look that says, “Let’s do this.”