Bud Light Won't Apologize For Ruffling Competitors' Corn Husks With Super Bowl Ad

Erika Goldring/Getty Images for Bud Light
Taylor Rock|

The lagers have their claws out. During Super Bowl LIII, Bud Light ran multiple ads that called out competitors Coors Light and Miller Lite for using corn syrup while Bud Light brews with rice. In the following days, Miller Lite and Coors Light went off on social media about the #corntroversy (Miller Lite even took out a full page ad in The New York Times) saying that although they do use corn syrup, none of it actually makes it past the fermentation stage and into the beer.

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The whole thing's been a giant fuss for everyone involved, but Bud Light isn't backing down. The brand issued a response to the backlash, but not an apology. A message from "the King," written on a medieval-style scroll, was posted to Twitter February 6. Here's the letter in full:

Yeeeesh! That escalated quickly.

You know, I just wanted to return some corn syrup to its rightful owners and here we are... Sorry, was it a secret or something?

In the Bud Light Kingdom we love corn too! Corn on the cob, corn bread, popcorn — we just don't brew with the syrup (what you also called "dextrose").

My royal accountant actually tried to get me to brew with corn syrup to save money. But, even though corn syrup is less expensive, we brew with rice, along with the finest hops, barley, and water, because I'm the King and it's not my job to save money.

Anyway, not saying you're being ungrateful or anything, but the next time one of your barrels of corn syrup accidentally shows up, you can come get it yourself!

MillerCoors chief compliance officer PJ Marino tweeted back at Bud Light spilling a little tea of his own. He said, "Yet you do use corn syrup on @budlight ye old king, perhaps you should have your subjects look at Bud Light Lime and Bud Light Orange you devious leader you."

But Bud Light was not having it. The brand responded with some sass writing, "Apparently 'ye old' CCO of @MillerCoors thinks he knows everything about our beers but *shocking* he doesn't. Bud Light Lime and Orange aren't brewed with corn syrup. Now please stop stalking us." Can't we all just be friends?

Corn farmers have also taken the ads to heart, and some say they've sworn off Bud Light completely. When asked previously about the Super Bowl ads that ran for the brand, an Anheuser-Busch spokesperson told The Daily Meal, "We fully support corn growers and will continue to invest in the corn industry," adding that they "don't have anything against corn syrup. We just don't use it in Bud Light." Sounds like everyone just needs to take a deep breath and crack a cold one. Science says beer makes you happy, and that's only one of 15 reasons you should drink one every day.

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