Budweiser has long used the Super Bowl to connect its majestic Clydesdales to the national mood. The brewer’s stance will not be difficult to understand this year.
In one of the beer giant’s lesser-known big-name spots, a young Clydesdale pony becomes lifelong friends with a baby bald eagle, and the two grow up together in the vein of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird.” In a 60-second commercial for Super Bowl LX, which NBC will air on February 8, at one point a horse jumps over an obstacle and a bird on its back spreads its wings, making the horse look like the mythical Pegasus.
Todd Allen, senior vice president of Budweiser marketing for Anheuser-Busch, said in a statement that the spot is intended to celebrate Budweiser’s 150th anniversary and America’s 250th anniversary. “We knew we had to rise to the occasion in a way that only Budweiser could,” the executive said. “This year’s spots will leave fans in awe and proud to enjoy Budweiser while celebrating our shared milestone moments.”
The Clydesdales are the favorites to win the Super Bowl, and their 2026 appearance will make them the 48th overall advertising star for the sports venue. Clydesdale cameos are not always guaranteed and usually depend on whether Anheuser-Busch executives feel they have a creative concept that fits the time.
But the marketing of Budweiser, an American consumer staple, has long been tied to the nation’s temperament. In 2002, Clydesdale helped the nation recover in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. In 2017, when the first Trump administration sought to ban travel from seven Muslim-majority countries, Anheuser-Busch aired a special in which a young Adolphus Busch, traveling from Germany to St. Louis, was met with hostile comments such as “You don’t look like you’re from here,” “Go home,” and “You’re not wanted here.”
In 2026, the Clydesdales seem to be realizing their oats.
For the third year in a row, Budweiser has collaborated with director Henry-Alex Rubin on the Super Bowl production. Also notable is the use of the 1973 Lynyrd Skynyrd classic. The song has appeared in movies such as “Forrest Gump,” but its use in advertising seems to be less widespread. Classic rock anthems serve as a great way to appeal to a wide Super Bowl audience, as many of the songs are well-known despite having been around for many years. Last year, Nike used Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love,” a 1969 rock classic, for its first Super Bowl appearance in nearly 30 years. In 2024, Anheuser-Busch combines appearances by the Clydesdales (and a friendly Labrador dog) with The Band’s 1968 flagship song “The Weight.”
Still, the spot will air as a broad but polarized audience of American consumers tunes into what is typically the year’s biggest media event. The nation has focused in recent days on the treatment of people in Minnesota. In Minnesota, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents killed two people who were not seen in the video footage and posed an immediate threat to them. U.S. consumers are also worried about the economic impact of the White House’s tariffs and the U.S. turmoil around Greenland and Venezuela.
Some Americans applaud the move, while others protest. Such issues and attitudes can affect how Budweiser’s commercial is received by the consumers who see it.
Clydesdales first appeared in Budweiser’s Super Bowl commercial in 1975. In addition to training for media appearances, trainers spend hours each day brushing manes and cleaning horseshoes.
How did they come to be associated with beer? August A. Busch Jr. and Adolphus Busch III decided to surprise their father, August A. Busch Sr., in early 1933 with a six-horse Clydesdale hitch to celebrate the repeal of Prohibition. Horses brought back memories of delivering beer in horse-drawn carriages. In 2026, Anheuser-Busch operates three travel teams that spend approximately 300 days traveling across the United States each year. The average male Clydesdale is about 6 feet tall and weighs about 2,000 pounds.
Anheuser-Busch needs to see how viewers respond to its latest ad to determine whether consumers think the Clydesdale still has good horse taste or whether they think it represents a different color of horses.
