Exploiting Music and Creative Craft for Alcohol Marketing
Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), the world’s largest beer producer, has come under fire for its latest Budweiser marketing campaign that openly boasted about not paying music rights fees. The campaign, titled “One Second Ads,” was developed by agency Africa DDB and targeted TikTok users in Brazil. While it won a Grand Prix and five other Lions at the Cannes Lions festival, it has sparked widespread condemnation from across the music and advertising industries.
The controversy began when Budweiser’s Cannes Lions submission celebrated its use of one-second audio clips from globally iconic tracks, including songs by The Beatles, Queen, Dr. Dre, and Beyoncé, while stating it spent “$0 on music right$.”
According to The Drum, the campaign challenged TikTok users to guess the songs based on one-second clips and claimed that using such short samples exempted them from paying licensing fees. As Music Ally reports, this claim was included in the official Cannes Lions case study and public statements by jury president Xolisa Dyeshana, who praised the campaign for its “efficiency”.
AB InBev’s Copyright Infringement?
According to CMU, Budweiser’s unethical campaign reported 68 million impressions within two weeks, 125,000 user guesses, and 4,878 coupon redemptions.
The beer giant also boasted that none of the ads were skipped. But while the numbers are impressive, the core issue lies in how the campaign leveraged protected creative content without paying for it.
As The Drum and Music Ally reported, there is no legal “one-second rule” in copyright law. Even brief audio clips can qualify for protection if they are recognisable and used publicly. Legal precedent in Europe, including the Kraftwerk sampling case, confirms that even short samples of recordings require licensing. In Brazil, where the campaign was launched, short audio clips are also covered under copyright protections.
Industry Backlash and Ethical Concerns
Music and licensing professionals condemned the campaign’s legal claims, according to CMU. Richard Kirstein of Resilient Music called the “one-second rule” an urban myth. Dave Chase of LSTNR noted that commercial use of music typically requires a fully paid license, regardless of sample length. Shez Mehra of Audio Branding challenged the beer giant’s double standards, pointing out that AB InBev aggressively defends its own trademarks and would never tolerate similar use of its logo or brand audio.
Imagine a musician using ‘one second’ of a Budweiser logo. See how fast the AB InBev legal team shows up,” said Shez Mehra, according to CMU.
Shez Mehra, Audio Branding
The backlash extended beyond legality to ethics. By promoting an alcohol product using recognisable music without artist compensation, AB InBev undermines musicians, songwriters, and the creative ecosystem. As Understory’s Ben Liebmann noted, the campaign proudly took both the format and the music from others, but treated artists as “free material.”
Alcohol Industry Hypocrisy and Broader Impact
AB InBev’s apology, issued after growing criticism, acknowledges the backlash but does not undo the message it already sent – that exploiting creativity is acceptable if it promotes alcohol and wins awards. Evidence-based research has consistently documented how alcohol industry actors co-opt music and sports to build positive brand associations while externalising social and health costs.
Moreover, studies show that alcohol marketing contributes to earlier alcohol initiation, higher-risk use, and more frequent alcohol consumption among adolescents. In fact, exposure to alcohol advertising is linked with an increased likelihood of starting to use alcohol among young people and an increased likelihood of engaging in heavy episodic use. Such marketing tactics are linked to an increased risk of alcohol use disorder and cause long-term harm, especially to children from families with alcohol problems.
The irony is stark: AB InBev is multinational corporation that is highly profitable. In 2023 they recorded:
- Total revenue: $59.4 billion,
- Net profit: $20.0 billion (EBITDA*), and
- Marketing spending: $7.2 billion.
At the same time, they are promoting low-cost beer and boasting about avoiding payments to artists – many of whom are already underpaid. Meanwhile, people harmed by the products and practices of AB InBev, such as people with alcohol use disorder and addiction, and children from families with alcohol problems face serious health, social, and economic consequences.
Marketing Alcohol at the Expense of Artists
This case highlights AB InBev’s and Big Alcohol’s reliance on sabotage strategies.
Sabotage is Big Alcohol’s deliberate actions to damage and obstruct people’s access to public goods. This strategy comprises calculated actions to break and undermine society’s rules, laws, and norms. Examples of Big Alcohol’s sabotage strategy include corruption, bribery, tax evasion and avoidance, price-fixing cartels, violations of alcohol marketing rules, and other unethical practices, such as depleting scarce drinking water.
Budweiser’s “One Second Ads” campaign exposes how alcohol companies use exploitative tactics to draw attention to their products while disregarding the rights of others. This campaign exposes children and youth to alcohol promotions, trivialises alcohol use, and relies on unlicensed, recognisable music to gain traction, devaluing the work of music creators. Such actions erode trust and accountability, damaging both the integrity of the creative industries and harming (young) peopel’s health.
As the debate continues, Cannes Lions and the wider marketing industry have a critical opportunity to re-evaluate what they reward. Clearly, it’s time to set new and higher standards.
Sources
The Drum: “Why is Grand Prix-winning Budweiser a miser when it comes to paying artists?”
Music Ally: “Budweiser criticised for prize-winning campaign that skipped music royalties“
Mi-3 Australia: “Ethics gradient: Cannes Grand Prix for Budweiser’s ‘Iconic Sounds’ hits dangerous bum note”
Complete Music Update: “Budweiser boasts of $0 spent on music rights in ‘Iconic Songs’ campaign, wins ad land’s biggest prize”
Ad Age: “Budweiser’s one-second ads Grand Prix win sparks controversy“
Ad Age: “How Budweiser won radio’s top audio award without paying musicians“