Twentieth International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations

Abstract

Budweiser is the most valuable beer brand in the world. In the US though, its presence extends well beyond retail or consumption: it is woven into the country’s commercial growth and popular imagination. It is within this context that Budweiser’s ad for the 2017 Super Bowl was so significant, and made such a bold contribution to a conversation that had wedged the US population, if not many people around the world: immigration. The ad was called ‘Born the hard way’ and told the story of the brand’s founder, Adolphus Busch – reimagined as a refugee from Germany to St Louis. It is possible that this ad, in any other year, would not have registered so pointedly or so profoundly. Yet such is the power of context that in early 2017, a narrative so tethered to such a generous, tender and optimistic vision for new arrivals proved especially powerful. This context – of a nation coming to grips with a new president that had seemingly opposite views on immigrants – is the focus of this study. That Budweiser, an iconic American brand, was born like this, ‘the hard way’, speaks to the ambition, enterprise, and sheer determination that shape many migrants’ lives, especially refugees. Budweiser thus spoke through a quintessentially national myth: America as the land of opportunity and promise, where migrants were not only welcome, but also acknowledged as integral to the building of the country – they were both valued and necessary.