Bud Light was created to compete in the lower-calorie light beer market

Craft beer is partially responsible for disrupting Budweiser’s US market share

Over the past few decades, as craft beer from smaller breweries has become more popular (as well as seltzers, light beers, and other alternatives), Budweiser’s market share has declined.

Anheuser-Busch sold half of its real estate holdings to survive Prohibition

The Budweiser parent company also created and sold out more than 25 different nonalcoholic products during this time, including but not limited to infant formula, frozen eggs, and specialized coffees and teas.

Budweiser still uses the same yeast lineage derived from the one used in the 1800s

During the late 1800s when Budweiser beers hit the market, darker, all‑malt lagers dominated the US beer market. Budweiser was brewed with a single, consistent yeast strain that gave it a crisp uniform flavor, differentiating it from darker beers.

Budweiser temporarily changed its name to ‘America’ in 2016

In the run-up to the 2016 United States Presidential Election, Budweiser changed its name as part of a marketing campaign that ran from the end of May through the November election itself.

Budweiser stores yeast derived from the original 1800s strain in a secret bunker, which only the Head of Yeast Management can access—not even the CEO

From 1989 to 2022, Anheuser-Busch had exclusive alcohol ad rights to the Super Bowl

That meant if an alcohol company was not owned by Anheuser-Busch (and later after the merger, AB InBev), it could not advertise during the Super Bowl. This monopoly was part of how Budweiser became known for its Clydesdale Super Bowl ads.

Scroll through a Budweiser historical timeline

From Eberhard Anheuser’s purchase of the Bavarian Brewery in 1860 to the Anheuser-Busch and InBev merger that created what became the world’s largest brewer, this historical timeline highlights the most significant moments in Budweiser’s more than 150-year story.

Liquor merchant Carl Conrad registered the ‘Budweiser’ trademark in 1878

He helped commercialize the beer and licensed the Budweiser name. Before working with Anheuser-Busch, Conrad was a US importer of wines, champagnes, and liquors.

In 2013, consumers reportedly purchased more beer on Cinco de Mayo than on Super Bowl Sunday or St. Patrick's Day

Beginning in the early 1980s, breweries positioned Cinco de Mayo as a "Mexican St. Patrick's Day," sponsoring events and targeting Latino consumers. Anheuser-Busch and Miller created Hispanic marketing departments, while Coors spent over $60 million marketing to Latino consumers.

How one Portland dive bar helped drive Pabst Blue Ribbon's comeback

In 2004, the Washington Post reported on the resurgence of Pabst Blue Ribbon, recast as a hip alternative to bigger-label brews, and said its comeback was thanks to Lutz Tavern in Portland, Oregon, which sold the beer for $1 a can.

Coca-Cola began developing Diet Coke to compete with a diet cola called Tab

Launched in 1963, Tab was successful in part because of its diet-conscious branding, with the name "tab" referring to the idea of "keeping a tab on your weight." Diet Coke made its debut in 1982.

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.

Bumble's ill-received 2024 rebrand included ads encouraging users to stop being celibate

The ads were meant to promote a new option on the dating app that allowed men to message first in opposite-sex matches—a significant change to the app's signature "women make the first move" feature. Bumble later apologized for the ads on Instagram. Bumble shares fell 54% after the brand removed the signature feature and allowed men to message first.

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

The ubiquitous 1990s “Got Milk?” ad campaign was intended to fix milk’s dwindling popularity in the late 20th century

Despite its success in spreading the word about milk, the sales numbers weren’t quite as impressive. This Mental Floss article details the marketing efforts themselves, as well as how milk lobbyists didn’t necessarily succeed despite their revolutionary ads.

CostCo's low-cost hot dogs: The strategy of 'loss leaders'

Wholesale food distributors like Sam's Club, BJ's, and CostCo place a premium on cutting costs for their consumers to cultivate brand loyalty. Enter CostCo's enduring $1.50 hot dog and soda combo. It's a classic example of a so-called "loss leader," a product a company loses money on but which keeps customers coming back for more. Learn the history of wholesalers and how selling over 200 million hot dogs in a year builds CostCo's brand.

Gen Z is drinking less alcohol than older generations

In the years 2001 through 2003, 72% of adults under age 35 said they drank. But by the time the years 2021 through 2023 rolled around, only 62% of under-35 adults could say the same, according to one recent study.

A new logo helped the NBA stay relevant in the '70s

In 1967, the American Basketball Association was formed, featuring a flashier style of offense. The competition caused player salaries to rise in both leagues. After watching Major League Baseball unveil its new logo, the NBA decided to use the same designer to create an iconic logo for the league. It debuted in 1971 and reignited basketball fans' interest.

How energy drink company Red Bull makes money

Red Bull was founded by Dietrich Mateschitz and is one of the world's most successful energy drink companies. The brand's value comes from its aggressive marketing efforts among students, nightlife, and sports figures, equating the consumption of one of its cans with excitement and athleticism.

'Ted Lasso' began as a series of promotional videos

The series debuted on Apple TV+ in 2020, but it began in 2013 as a series of short comedy sketches created to promote NBC Sports' broadcasts of Premier League soccer matches.

One of LVMH's key business innovations was widening the luxury market's target audience

While certain items under the LVMH umbrella can cost thousands of dollars, like large Louis Vuitton bags, others, like coin purses or lipstick, cost significantly less. Some argue that these comparatively lower-priced items allows LVMH's target audience to be much larger in size than it would have been if it only targeted the world's wealthiest shoppers, whereas others argue that it makes the brand more vulnerable to economic downturns.

LSD fueled a countercultural movement before evolving into a potential therapeutic

As the use of recreational psychedelics became common, authorities were quick to claim LSD had lasting adverse effects, criminalizing the drug and halting scientific study for decades. Over time, LSD's reputation shifted from a potential source of enlightenment to a dangerous drug that could dim a person's future, and back to a possible therapeutic compound.

In 1984, Dylan began experimenting with punk

When Bob Dylan was asked to appear on David Letterman’s relatively new late-night show, he decided to call an audible. He’d been intrigued by LA’s exploding post-punk scene and had spent time jamming with one of its bands, the Plugz, whom he decided to bring to Letterman as his backing band. The appearance sounds unlike anything else in his catalog and is one of his more fascinating creative reinventions in a career loaded with them.

Many female-founded companies were branded with the color 'millennial pink'

Many of the female-founded companies of the “girlboss era” in the mid-2010s had one thing in common: A certain light shade of pink was core to their brand book. The color—deemed “millennial pink”—was found on the packaging of makeup company Glossier, the walls and logos of coworking space The Wing, and the suitcases of luggage company Away.

The Beatles once sued Nike

Nike used The Beatles' "Revolution" in an ad, sparking a $15M lawsuit over the song's use. While The Beatles and Nike ultimately reached an agreement, Nike ushered in the modern practice of using hit songs in advertisements, as opposed to jingles or covers.

How to save money with 'loud budgeting'

"Loud budgeting" is when you announce to your friends that something—a restaurant, an activity, and so on—is too expensive and you can't afford it. The term, which opposes the social pressure of keeping up wealthy appearances, was coined by comedian Lukas Battle in 2024 as a joke, but it caught on with TikTokers amid inflation.

The term 'low T' was coined in 2002, recasting testosterone therapy and elevating demand

The marketing shift and accompanying awareness campaigns, both by the company behind the first testosterone product approved by the FDA, changed the landscape for testosterone product demand. Testosterone is often considered low when it's below 300 nanograms per deciliter of blood. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles initially loved beer, not pizza

The original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles self-published comic book was a parody of other, more popular comic book heroes, and was primarily aimed at adults. In those early issues, the Turtles drank beer. It wasn't until 1987, when the franchise was reworked as a children's cartoon, that they were given the more kid-friendly obsession with pizza.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

Mid-century modern graphic designers, known for their bright colors and bold lines in advertising, also found success with children's books.

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

The most expensive ad of all time was for Chanel No. 5 perfume and cost roughly $33M to produce in 2004—about $57M in today's dollars.

The Beatles' US label rejected the band's first two singles, 'Please Please Me' and 'From Me to You,' with one executive calling the band 'dead in the water.'

Massive blooms of microscopic plankton called dinoflagellates produce the neon blue light seen in glowing tides.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

After her fellow cult members tried to kill her with an LSD-infused hamburger, one member of the Manson Family, the murderous cult led by Charles Manson, decided to testify against the group's leader.

'Silent' fireworks have gained more interest in recent years as a quieter celebratory option.

'Saturday Night Fever,' the 1977 film that introduced disco to the mainstream, was based on a fabricated magazine story.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

Brandi Chastain, the star of the 1999 US victory over China in the 1999 Women's World Cup, was a last-second choice to take the penalty kick that sealed the victory.

The 2026 Ebola outbreak in the DRC is spurring new Ebola vaccine development for the Bundibugyo species.

In 2009, the nation was gripped by the story of a missing young boy who was believed to be floating over Colorado in a homemade balloon, until it was revealed that he was at home the whole time.

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

Comedy legend Catherine O'Hara, star of 'Schitt's Creek' and 'Home Alone,' quit 'Saturday Night Live' after just one week to return to her old job.

Roughly 43 million US borrowers owe roughly $1.7T in student debt, the second-largest source of consumer debt behind mortgages.

An initial public offering or 'IPO' is the process of a private company becoming public by putting shares of the company on the stock market for purchase.

Before humans, the Soviet Union and the United States sent animals—including apes, dogs, and cats—to space during the Space Race.

Abraham Lincoln was almost assassinated weeks before his inauguration as he traveled from Illinois to DC through Baltimore in 1861; it took two independent claims for Lincoln to be convinced the threat was real

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.