“You don’t look like you’re from around here.” “We don’t want you here.” “Go back home.” Three phrases that chill Americans to the core — or should. All are included in a powerful new ad that for Budweiser that Anheuser-Busch will air during Sunday’s Super Bowl.
Titled “Born the Hard Way,” the topical 60-second spot follows the harrowing journey of would-be brewmaster Adolphus Busch from Germany to the United States and eventually St. Louis. The brewer initially is met with disapproving stares and jeers but perseveres until he meets a man who buys him a beer and eventually will become his partner. It ends with Busch shaking hands with a fellow immigrant Eberhard Anheuser.
The ad is sure to tug at some heartstrings and possibly stick in some craws, but it’s a stark reminder of the people from foreign shores who helped make America great in the first place. It arrives, of course, just as President Trump’s travel ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries that has inspired backlash from the public, Hollywood and politicians on both sides of the aisle. Here’s the question: How do you think “Born the Hard Way” will be received by the beer-swilling and football-mad masses watching Fox’s Big Game this weekend?
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