This Bud's Not for Me

Even if I have personally reached the point at which I am not longer aware of the lexicons of large urban subcultures, there's a million things insulting about this ad. As a middle class white woman it is impolite for me to point out much of what follows but politesse has never stopped me before. I am old enough to have seen a shift in the portrayal of minorities in media first hand therefore feel fully justified in commenting on it.

Let's lay this Budweiser "True" spot out for scrutiny. It's clear the players in this drama are middle to upper middle class. The signs are all there - computers, large well appointed home, leather sofa, the iconographic symbols of the middle manager homestead. While many of the men I know have logged more than their fair share of hours horizontally swilling beer and watching the game without being total pigs at other times, the depiction here is that of the typical frat boy foolishness. This is cause for celebration, the phone call is made and anyone nearby must participate. Everyone wants to celebrate that they have nothing to say.

download the quicktime movie of this ad

So these men, who've clearly attained something in their lives (or they wouldn't be living in such swell pads) are reduced to inarticulate slackers when they think no one's looking. Maybe Bud's trying to say that even though you've made it you can still go ghetto when you're with your pals. Or maybe they're trying to show the honkys that even though these men are competing with the white boys for the next promotion, at the heart of it all, they're less sophisticated, domestic beer drinking, simple minded also rans. The mugging dates back to the days of Al Jolsen when it was the black man's job to be entertaining and non threatening.

All punctuated with True. True. A true portrayal of the modern successful African American? Or a true comfort to the insecure white man who couldn't keep a brother down any longer?

Racism passing as insider humor is not okay. Political correctness need not be observed in my book, in fact, throwing it off sometimes leads us to see ourselves more clearly even in the 30 second masterpiece that is a TV ad. Budweiser here has crossed a line though, and it's questionable what it is they're selling. Even taken at it's most immediate level, without exploring any of the nuances, the ad's message is "Go nowhere fast with Budweiser" which is essentially true, true.

What ads have done more harm than good?

leslie@smug.com

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