Next Sunday will be the first Super Bowl Sunday since 1983 that won’t air a commercial from Budweiser. No Bud Bowl. No Clydesdale horses pulling the sled. No frogs croaking out the Budweiser syllables. You’re probably wondering, “Whassuppp?” The King of Beers has decided that in light of the pandemic, rather than run an ad, they will donate what they would have spent to aid coronavirus vaccination awareness efforts. Don’t worry, you’ll still see ads from their other brands like Bud Light and their hard seltzers, you just won’t see any for Bud. You can put “No Budweiser ad” right in between “Stadium at 1/3 capacity” and “Tom Brady in a non-Patriots uniform” on your Super Bowl LV Oddities Bingo Card.
The average cost of a 30-second Super Bowl commercial is about $5.6 million. If Bud runs an ad every quarter - that’s a lot of beer money. It’s generous to put all that money toward vaccine awareness. Maybe they’ll put their famed advertising team to work on the messaging and the vaccine campaign becomes iconic. Does a Clydesdale getting vaccinated resonate? Kidding aside, Budweiser will truly help to educate the public on the nationwide vaccination efforts. The vaccine is the only way out of the current COVID situation so it will not only help our citizens, it will also help our restaurants and bars get back to business.
But maybe with all that money, Budweiser could do something more. Maybe they could reroute that cash to help out some of the people who have helped them over the years. Really helped. Think about all those cold Buds that have been served across the bar over the years, every one popped open by your friendly neighborhood bartender. Those are the peeps who could use some attention right now.
While things at restaurants have slowly (very slowly) been coming back, our bars are a different story. They are still restricted to limited hours and space and there is no seating allowed at the actual bar. The guidelines are necessary but they’ve been particularly hard on bartenders who make their livelihood on full bars. They’re still working - they’re making the drinks and taking tables in the lounge - but their income has been slashed. Can you help Bud?
Being a bartender in a restaurant has always carried some prestige. They are their own breed. They have to be proficient at making drinks (and making them quickly) and they have to be skilled customer service experts and part entertainers. They come in early to set up. They stay late to break it down. They make sure the waitstaff get their drinks. They make cocktails for those at the bar. They serve food to anyone sitting down and they find time to talk to people too. A good bartender keeps the bar lively and brings energy to the place. They get people talking to each other. They are ambassadors of fun. But since the pandemic, they haven’t been able to bring the thunder (and the thunder is where they make their money and keep from going under).
Most restaurants have been able to get their bartenders back to work. They are still making drinks and even making drinks-to-go now. But they’re making a lot less. Maybe this is where the folks at Budweiser could step in. Bartenders have helped build the Budweiser brand over the years. They’ve kept coolers stocked with it and cracked open thousands of bottles over the years. They helped make it the the King of Beers. If they’re going to start moving their advertisement budget around, how about throwing some of it to bartenders? We’d rather see happy bartenders around here than sappy beer commercials any day.
Sadly, Budweiser is probably not going to save our bartenders. Like everything in the age of COVID, there’s nothing to do but to try and stay safe and patient. Hopefully in the not too distant future, bartenders will be back behind the stick making their guests smile and laugh again. When they do, we’ll be there waiting for a seat to open up at the bar. I can’t wait to wait for that. Cheers!
Dan Lederer is a Middletown resident with 30 years experience in the food service industry throughout New England. He continues to work locally behind the scenes within the industry and remains a devoted fan of all things restaurant and hospitality related. His column appears on newportri.com and Thursdays in The Daily News. Cheers!
The Link LonkJanuary 28, 2021 at 12:30AM
https://www.newportri.com/story/lifestyle/food/2021/01/27/newport-food-scene-dont-forget-your-friendly-neighborhood-bartender-budweiser-super-bowl/4274625001/
NEWPORT FOOD SCENE: Don't forget about your friendly neighborhood bartender - newportri.com
https://news.google.com/search?q=forget&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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