Anheuser-Busch is updating packaging for Budweiser and its line of Budweiser Select beers, according to the brewer and labels approved by federal regulators in December.
Its new Bud cans, detailed in a brand tweet, eschew the stylized Budweiser script for a throwback look featuring a serif block font, giving the cans a similar look to those used from the mid-1950s to the early 1980s. The new cans also bring forward more of the brand’s signature red along the margins of the can and replace most of the light gray in its badge with navy blue.
Both beers in the brand’s Select line extension, meanwhile, also appear to be getting a makeover.
Budweiser Select, a light lager with 4.3% alcohol by volume, appears to be moving away from its red crown insignia and into stark black cans that mimic the Budweiser label. The brand, which was first released in 2005 but treated more like an afterthought in recent years, more clearly highlights its 99 calories and 3.1 grams of carbohydrates per 12-ounce serving by listing each in red.
The 2.4% ABV, 55-calorie Budweiser Select 55, meanwhile, gets similar treatment, except with a gray label. That brand, introduced in 2009 in response to MillerCoors’ 64-calorie MGD 64 (later rebranded to Miller64), also hasn’t received much marketing focus in recent years.
Both brands were down high single digits in sales volume year-to-date through Dec. 21, per Nielsen all-outlet and convenience data.
The redesign of the Select line comes months after Molson Coors unveiled a redesign of competitor Miller64. That brand also just launched its first new marketing campaign in five years that features “Succession” actor Nicholas Braun and asks drinkers to enjoy a “dry-ish January.”
It’s unclear if Anheuser-Busch plans to put any marketing muscle behind the Select line in 2020, particularly considering it just invested in national TV spots for another all-but-forgotten brand, Bud Light Platinum. A company spokeswoman declined to comment aside from pointing to the Budweiser tweet.