• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, February 1, 2017

This morning, the Busch beer brand, launched in 1955, posted the creative for its first Super Bowl ad on its YouTube channel.

Anheuser-Busch InBev had previously announced that Busch would make its debut with a 30-second ad during the first quarter of Super Bowl LI but later decided to pre-release it, according to a brand rep.

The brewer is also running a 30-second ad for Michelob Ultra, along with 60-second ads for Bud and Bud Light, during the Super Bowl.

The Busch ad (below) puts a contemporary, humorous spin on the brand’s signature “stream pull” and “BUSCHHHHH” crack sound from its classic campaigns. 

From Deutsch New York, which became the brand’s lead creative agency last August, the ad introduces “the Busch Guy,” an average-looking guy clad in a lumberjack shirt. 

In a good-natured parody of clichéd “he-man” beer ads — one of many beer-category creative memes pioneered by A-B itself — he pulls a six-pack of Busch out of a mountain stream and announces that the beer is “as crisp and cold as a mountain stream, and has the same great taste it’s always had…even the same sound.” 

The twist: The loud, extended hissing sound following the popping of the tab disturbs wild animals for miles around, causing the guy to try to muffle the sound (above). 

The ad also spotlights the brand’s “refreshed” can design, to be on retail shelves as of April.

The creative goal for the Super Bowl debut ad was to create a spot that was “unmistakably Busch,” while “relatable and funny,” summed up Chelsea Phillips, senior director of value brands at A-B. 

The Busch Guy will be featured in TV ads throughout 2017.

The Super Bowl exposure and subsequent campaign are intended to build on Busch’s recent sales growth and leadership in the high-volume “value segment” that accounts for 25% of overall beer sales, according to A-B InBev.