Coors Light, Miller Lite, and corn farmers are slamming Bud Light for Super Bowl ads that called out beer giants’ use of corn syrup

Bud Light

Bud Light mocked Coors Light and Miller Lite for the beer brands’ use of corn syrup in a series of ads that aired during the Super Bowl.
MillerCoors fired back with a reminder that Miller Lite has fewer calories and carbs than Bud Light.
The National Corn Growers Association also got involved in the brawl, tweeting "America’s corn farmers are disappointed in you" at Bud Light.

Some of the biggest names in beer are facing off in a corn-syrup-drenched battle.

During the Super Bowl on Sunday, Bud Light debuted a series of ads bashing Coors Light and Miller Lite for using corn syrup to make their light beers.

Bud Light faced near-instantaneous backlash from MillerCoors — the owner of both Coors Light and Miller Lite — as well as from the corn industry.

"More taste, fewer calories, and half the carbs of Bud Light," Miller Lite tweeted on Sunday evening.

According to a representative for MillerCoors, Miller Lite uses corn syrup, but not high-fructose corn syrup, as a source for fermentation, while Bud Light uses rice.

"We’re proud of our beers, we’re proud of our ingredients and we’re happy to have this fight because we know Bud Light has more calories and more carbs, while Miller Lite has more taste and Coors Light is the World’s Most Refreshing Beer," the representative said in a statement to Business Insider.

"This fight shows we’re getting under the competition’s skin, and we’re ready to take more of their market share too."

Pete Marino, MillerCoors’ chief communications officer, noted that none of MillerCoors’ products use high-fructose corn syrup, but many brews from Bud Light’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBev, do.

"Things that make you go hmmmmm," he tweeted.

The commercial also inspired pushback from the corn industry.

"America’s corn farmers are disappointed in you," the National Corn Growers Association tweeted. "Our office is right down the road! We would love to discuss with you the many benefits of corn!"

While Bud Light may be happy to feud with Coors Light and Miller Lite, AB InBev seems to want to patch things up with corn growers.

“Last year, Anheuser-Busch purchased more than 1 billion pounds of corn ingredients," AB InBev said in a statement to Business Insider. "We fully support corn growers and will continue to invest in the corn industry."

"Bud Light’s Super Bowl commercials are only meant to point out a key difference in Bud Light from some other light beers," the statement continued. "This effort is to provide consumers transparency and elevate the beer category.”

The ad represents a battle that has been brewing between the brands, especially between Miller Lite and Bud Light. In 2017, Miller Lite debuted "Know Your Beer," which had drinkers participate in blind taste tests between Bud Light and Miller Lite.

Light beer brands are also attempting to prove their nutritional value and quality, as drinkers increasingly "trade up" to pricier beverage options. In January, Bud Light debuted a new label that highlights nutritional information, making it the first American beer to display ingredients and nutritional facts on its outer packaging.

Sales of domestic premium brands such as Bud Light, Budweiser, Miller Lite, and Coors Light dropped 4.2% in 2018, according to IRI data. That means that some of the biggest names in the industry are being hit hardest as millennials cut back on beer in favor of wine, spirits, and nonalcoholic beveraeges.

Here is one of Bud Light’s corn syrup-bashing ads:

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Source: Business Insider