But given the amount of bonehead advertising in the beer category, and the more-than-ample historical sales evidence irrefutably establishing its inability to move the only needle that matters, it's a good question. And here's an even more provocative query: How clueless would an advertiser have to be to see its major competitor correct an advertising mistake, and then go ahead and plagiarize their ads? Not the corrected ads, the failed ones?
Before we supply an answer, remember this Heineken campaign? It was all cheesy, vapid entertainment with nothing of consequence dramatized about the beer. Ad creative people hailed it as avant garde, worthy of all sorts of self-congratulatory industry awards. During the campaign's several year run, Heineken sales only fell.
Imagine our surprise and chagrin, then, when Stella Artois--the Belgian Heineken wannabe--just began airing this...
Imitation, it seems, actually can be the sincerest form of... stupidity.
Changing subjects...
So as to leave you contemplating something more positive than advertising stupidity, here's the latest from Budweiser. This is the kind of long-form, special-event promotional ad that can be part of the King of Beer's climb back into relevance.
Happy Fourth of July!