Anheuser Busch launches ads directed by Spike Lee

ST. LOUIS -- Independent film director Spike Lee is known for edgy movies like "Do the Right Thing." Now he's unveiling new ads telling consumers to drink the right drink -- and it's beer.

Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. will unveil new advertisements this weekend directed by Lee as part of a company campaign called "Here's to Beer." One of the ads will also star Lee, who often appears in his own movies.

Although the ads are financed by Anheuser-Busch, they won't revolve around the company's most famous brands of Budweiser or Michelob.

Instead, the nation's biggest brewer is trying to promote all beer brands. The idea is to take consumers away from wine, spirits and trendy cocktails that have taken the wind out of beer sales in recent years.

This weekend's ads ask a simple question: with whom would you most like to drink a beer?

Spike Lee's answer: late Brooklyn Dodger great, Jackie Robinson.

The ad is meant to highlight Anheuser-Busch's message that beer brings people together.

"It's about connection, you know. It's about something that's very social. It has a deeper meaning," said Robert Lachky, the brewer's executive vice president for global industry development.

Talk about deep. Another ad in the series will feature Michael Imperioli, best known as the moody and homicidal gangster Christopher Moltisanti from HBO's hit show The Sopranos.

Imperioli's drinking buddy of choice? Humphrey Bogart.

Anheuser-Busch released its first Here's to Beer ad on Super Bowl Sunday. Lachky said he considered the ad successful. More than 200,000 people have visited the campaign's Web since the ad premiered, according to the company.

One might think other beer companies would be excited about the ads as well, considering it's all free advertising for their product. Think again. Happy hour hasn't started among brewers who have been competing fiercely for years.

Miller Brewing Co. could take or leave the campaign, said spokesman Pete Marino.

"We believe that the beer category does not have a problem, so we don't believe there's a category solution," Marino said.

"We are focused on really developing our individual brands," Marino said.