Who created this media message?  Why?

Anheuser-Busch created this advertisement to market Bud Extra.

Who is the target audience?  What text, images or sounds suggest this?  

Straight, young men (ages 15 to 30 roughly) are probably the target audience. This beer is marketed and designed to look like an energy drink which is very popular with young people. The text “you can go home early when you’re married” and “the beer with caffeine, ginseng, guarana and a crisp refreshing taste that will unshackle the ball and chain from your evening” suggest that this ad is intended for single, heterosexual men. Media often portray marriage negatively when targeting men and positively when targeting women. The “ball and chain” is a pejorative phrase for wife, meaning that the wife is always dragging down the husband, burdening him and making him a prisoner, rather than free.

What is the text (literal meaning) of the message?

Text includes the sentences: “You can go home early when you’re married. Go Longer. The beer with caffeine, ginseng, guarana and a crisp refreshing taste that will unshackle the ball and chain from your evening. So go ahead, linger.” In the bottom left corner is a logo that reads: “Responsibility Matters” and the website budextra.com. We see an image of the bud extra can with the colors black, red, silver and gold. The bottom of the can reads: Beer With Something Extra. The background graphics include the Budweiser crown logo at the top, shades of red at the bottom, with a large black background that fills the majority of the ad.

What is the subtext (unstated or hidden message)?

Ginseng and guarana make this drink more natural and healthy. This beer, which includes caffeine, ginseng and guarana, will allow you to party longer. When you are not married you should stay out late, because once you’re married your wife won’t let you stay out late. This is the beer for single, straight, young men. Regular beer makes you tired after a while, but with the energy ingredients in this beer you will be able to drink more, drink longer and get drunker. If you drink more and stay up later you will have a better time in general. Having a wife is a negative thing, because all wives are a burden. Wives imprison men and take away their freedom. Freedom here is equivalent to partying late, drinking a lot and sleeping with women who are not your wife.

What kind of lifestyle is presented?  Is it glamorized?  How?

A straight, single lifestyle where you party and drink a lot is presented. This lifestyle is glamorized and portrayed as something positive that gives you freedom. The text alone suggests this.

What values are expressed?

Values expressed in this ad include heterosexual relationships and drinking/party culture is great. Also, beer is king and should be worshiped. This ad emphasizes that beer is more important than taking care of your body and more important than your wife.

What tools of persuasion are being used?

- Humor: The wife being the “ball and chain” is often made out to be a joke.

- Flattery: Straight, single men are being flattered in that they don’t have to worry about the burdensome wife yet and therefore should treat themselves to long nights of partying because they deserve it

- Timing: Energy drinks that contain caffeine, ginseng and guarana are very popular right now. The fact that Budweiser is combined with energy drink contents and designed to look like an energy drink is good timing in order to appeal to a broader target market.

See "The language of persuasion"

What healthy messages are communicated? What unhealthy messages are communicated?

Healthy messages are mostly absent from this ad. The intake of ginseng and guarana may be viewed as healthy because they are plants and some claim there are medicinal uses for both. Guarana and ginseng are often found in sodas, energy drinks and herbal teas.

There are many unhealthy messages which include excessive alcoholic intake and alcoholism. Also, sexism and disrespect of women and wives are other strong, unhealthy messages in this ad.

What part of the story is not being told?

According to American Family Physician, side effects of ginseng include nausea, diarrhea, euphoria, insomnia, headaches, hypertension, hypotension, mastalgia (breast pain), vaginal bleeding and blood pressure abnormalities.

There are also side effects for caffeine and alcohol intake. Both caffeine and alcohol are addictive drugs.

Beer ads that appeal to youth contribute to underage drinking. Underage drinking:

- is a factor in nearly half of all teen automobile accidents – the leading cause of teen deaths.

- contributes to youth suicides, fatal injuries and homicides – the next three leading causes of teen deaths.

- is linked to two-thirds of all sexual assaults and date rapes of teens and college students.

- is a major factor in unprotected sex among adolescents, increasing their risk of contracting HIV or other sexually-transmitted infections.

(Source: "Facts about youth and alcohol", American Medical Association, 2004)

Beverage companies that sell alcoholic energy drinks were harshly criticized in August 2007 by more than two dozen state attorneys general who want federal officials to examine the ingredients and marketing of the drinks they say are aimed at underage customers. The attorneys general singled out Miller Brewing Co. for Sparks and Sparks Plus, Anheuser-Busch for Bud Extra and Charge Beverages for its Liquid Charge and Liquid Core drinks. (Source: Advertising Age http://adage.com)