I'm sure many of you have heard the Bud Light "Real Men of Genius" ad campaign. The ads feature a serious sounding announcer and a cheesy background singer saluting some bizarre character - here's one of my favorites: Mr. Really Big Pet Snake Owner.
Anyway, there are something like 79 authorized versions of these commercials - and most of them are really, really clever. It's a fantastic marketing campaign, with obviously, huge, viral potential.
I went in search of a Real Men of Genius widget so I could set up a RateItAll ratings list of the top Real Men of Genius ads - what I found was that Bud Light had been systematically harassing the sites distributing these MP3 Files, and demanding that their content be removed. One of the legal notices can be read here.
I try to picture myself in Bud Light's shoes. They create a clever ad campaign for which they spend real dollars for radio distribution. The campaign turns out to be so clever that folks what to give it Internet airplay for free. Bud Light's reaction is to threaten legal action against the free distributors, but continue to pay for distribution... my goodness.
Granted, this particular conflict was from 2005. Perhaps Bud Light has lightened its stance a bit, and is starting to embrace, rather than harass, those want to distribute their advertising messages.
But where are the Real Men of Genius widgets? These things would spread like wild fire. Hooman, if you're listening, why not give Anheuser-Busch a call and help them get with the program? Or better yet, somebody should just drop these MP3 Files into an audio widget, and put their own backlink at the bottom. The backlink love would no doubt push the publisher of this widget to the top of the SERPS for whatever anchor text they chose to use.
In my opinion, AB's (no doubt costly) attempt to stifle the proliferation of their own advertising message ranks as one of the more graphic examples of "not getting it" that I have ever seen. It makes me want to start a brewery.
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