Jeep. Levi’s. Coca-Cola. Jack Daniel’s. Budweiser. They’re all American brands, and they have all employed American themes in their advertising to one degree or another. 

While patriotic advertising may not always work well, there’s a good reason everyone from auto companies to liquor brands put patriot ads to use. They sell. “Done right, patriotic advertising fosters a strong consumer association between a product and the best of America,” writes Shayna Robinson at brand publisher L&T. 

If patriotic ads focus on the best of America, we want to focus on the best of these ads. These are our favorites, in no particular order. 

#1: Budweiser | Service Never Stops

The five minute video, published in 2018 on Budweiser’s YouTube channel, puts a face to the beer brand charitable giving. 

The highlight is on the families of fallen and disabled service members, with real participants interviewed for the spot. It’s an emotional moment that happens to position Budweiser’s Freedom Reserve.

Budweiser Advertising Stats

From January to May 2019, Budweiser spent over $24 million on advertising on a variety of mediums, including TV, digital, newspaper, magazine & Snapchat. Q3 is the most active of the year for the beer, wine, and spirits industry RFPs, and the company’s ad spend is sure to reflect that in the coming months.

Take a look at MediaRadar data on Budweiser’s ad spend, campaign insights, and more on Budweiser’s brand profile page!

#2: Jeep | The Star-Spangled Banner

Ahead of 2019’s Super Bowl, Jeep released a digital ad featuring OneRepublic singing the national anthem. 

The ad, complete with the tagline ‘picture freedom like never before’, puts The Star-Spangled Banner to a ‘word-by-word visual’, each word represented by a new frame. Scenes of military service members interpose with baseball and city scenes. The ad is complete with cleverly timed shots of Jeep associated with ‘through the perilous fight’ and ‘over the land’. 

Jeep Advertising Stats

From January to May 2019, Jeep spent over $100 million on advertising. A whopping 48% of this was allocated to broadcast advertising. While TV has long been Jeep’s highest ad spend medium, 2019 has brought some changes to the Jeep advertising strategy:

• Began advertising on Snapchat
• YoY digital ad spend has increased by 41%
• Increased focus/investment in native advertising

Take a look at MediaRadar data on Jeep’s ad spend, campaign insights, and more on Jeep’s brand profile page!

#3: Levi’s | Go Forth America

Released a decade ago in the immediate aftermath of the financial crisis, Levi’s Go Forth campaign sets visceral imagery to Walt Whitman reading from his poem ‘America’. 

With words like freedom, law, love, strong and enduring the ad certainly invokes all the best sentiments about America — and is read by one of the US’ most famous poets. 

Levi’s Advertising Stats

From January to May 2019, Levi’s spent just under $19 million on advertising. Broadcast took the biggest portion, receiving around 45% of the brand’s total YTD ad spend.

In 2019, compared to other years, Levi’s has increased spend in mobile, newspaper and native advertising.

Take a look at MediaRadar data on Levi’s ad spend, campaign insights, and more on Levi’s brand profile page!

#4: Coca Cola | Together is Beautiful 

As a global brand, Coca Cola ads often take an international approach, like it’s multi-national Share a Coke campaign. But for 2016’s ‘Together is Beautiful’ — an update to the ‘America is Beautiful’ ad from 2014 with the same concept — doubles down on American diversity.

The ad features children singing ‘America the Beautiful’ in multiple languages. The brand has continued to use the tagline in multiple other marketing campaigns as well. 

Coca Cola Advertising Stats

Coca Cola spent about $2.7 million on the ad above, which is 60 seconds long and aired across 9 networks for a little over 1000 days.

From January to May 2019, Coca Cola has spent just under $54 million on advertising, the largest portion of which (48%) went to Cable TV. In 2019, the brand is substantially increasing spend on mobile, online, video, and magazine ads.

Take a look at MediaRadar data on Coca Cola’s ad spend, campaign insights, and more on Coca Cola’s brand profile page!

#5: Jack Daniel’s | As American As

This spot from Jack Daniel’s combines the nostalgic with the inspirational, citing all the elements of America that make up, well, America. 

It’s about the American spirit, however idealized. The narration ends with: “We live in a country that lets people make things they believe. And that’s American as…well…”

The ad lets you fill in the blank. With Jack Daniels, of course. 

Jack Daniel’s Advertising Stats

From January to May 2019. Jack Daniel’s spent just over $4 million on advertising, an overall 21% increase compared to previous years. This is due to a huge surge in cable, display, and broadcast advertising. Cable advertising alone takes a whopping 93% of the brand’s ad spend.

Also new to the Jack Daniel’s advertising portfolio is native advertising, which the brand began to use in 2019.

Take a look at MediaRadar data on Jack Daniel’s ad spend, campaign insights, and more on Jack Daniel’s brand profile page!