Business

The Budweiser people are mocking Apple and the question is why

Has the world had enough of brands mocking Apple's keynotes? It seems not.

Written by Chris Matyszczyk, Contributing Writer July 15, 2020 at 5:13 a.m. PT

Some tropes get so tired they become tripe.

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I only mention this because I fear I've seen one too many brands attempt to mock Apple by mocking the company's keynotes, its product videos, and, well, its all-encompassing sanctimoniousness.

Why, even Sacha Baron Cohen sank to that glorious height a mere four years ago. And he was promoting a movie no one saw. Well, except for me on a strange Saturday morning at a shopping mall.

Mocking Apple's mannered mannerisms is so old that Lyft tried it. In 2014.

Yet here we are in the depths of 2020 and along come the Budweiser people -- or AB InBev as they're so sonorously known -- to try it all over again.

This is the launch of a product called Busch Light Apple.

Somehow the marketers behind this no-doubt elegant new beer took one look at the apple element and thought mocking Apple keynotes would be so, so funny. Because no one's ever done this before.

Here we have someone who doesn't look at all like Steve Jobs, Tim Cook, or even Steve Cook. This is the Busch Guy, and he's very popular. He's even appeared in some funny ads. Some of those ads have been for Busch.

Here, he makes jokes about tech words and phrases. Well, are they really jokes?

Sample: "We've developed a can embedded with 16 ounces of liquid bandwidth."

(I pause for your uproar.)

It's as if someone thought: "Well, we'll just put in phrases like beta mode and universal taste compatibility and everyone will laugh."

I feel sure you already are.

It's not as if the (attempted) Apple mockery ends with just this ad. The Busch people are even offering a replacement program. Yes, just as Apple did for the MacBook dead butterfly keyboards not so long ago.

In this case: "We know your Busch Light Apple will be empty soon. So we're offering Replacement Protection. Be one of the first 1,000 to post a pic w/the Busch Light Apple logo from 7/13-7/17 with #BuschProtection and #Contest for your chance to win $ toward the replacement of your product."

It's just me, I know. I'm not immediately in the Busch Light Apple market, so I can't see just how funny this campaign truly is. I know many people are extremely excited about this limited edition beer.

But Busch Light is a relatively cheap beer that's popular with college students. Won't they believe that mocking Apple keynotes is a little passé? Especially as Apple's keynotes currently aren't happening with a live audience, given all things coronavirus.

There are many things about Apple that are clearly funny. Samsung discovered this at a vital moment in the development of the Galaxy phone series.

Even this week you might think there's something entirely amusing about Tim Cook appearing with Ivanka Trump to promote the government's new Find Something New campaign to "help" the jobless.

But finding something new may be harder than you think. Which is, perhaps, why the Busch Light Apple people thought finding something old made for delightful humor.