'In actual tears': Budweiser scores again with 'incredible and poignant' Super Bowl LII ad [video]

Greg P. | 6:20 PM on January 26, 2018

Anheuser-Busch InBev released its Super Bowl LII ad for its signature Budweiser beer on Friday, titled, “Stand By You,” and as in past years, it’s a good one. As in, maybe have a box of Kleenex handy:

In actual tears. https://t.co/u2kPjpjLYo

— Caitlin Jones (@caitlinbjones) January 26, 2018

The ad starts out with a middle-of-the-night call to a Budweiser employee who solemnly looks at his sleeping wife and says into the phone, “I’ll be right there.” The ad then cuts to the employee driving to the factory while listening to a radio report on a big storm hitting the U.S.

[You can see where this is going…]

The employee is identified as Kevin Fahrenkrog, Sr. General Manager of the Cartersville brewery. Once Fahrenkrog gets to the factory, you find out he’s not there to fix a beer production line problem. He’s actually there to shift production to fresh water for use in disaster recovery efforts.

Amazing. Have a look:

The best Budweiser commercial in the Super Bowl this year might be the one that doesn’t try to overtly sell you beer https://t.co/HDAEI4whNM

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) January 26, 2018

Budweiser also announced it’s upgrading a second U.S. brewery to be able to provide fresh water in times of need:

Our support does not stop here. In 2018, we've committed to adding a second brewery to help deliver water to areas in need: https://t.co/rQQhz1XlQo pic.twitter.com/7O5cI6EVqK

— Budweiser (@budweiserusa) January 26, 2018

Well done, Budweiser: