Stop saying 'BUY NOW!'. Soften your call to action or lose out in today's age.

The MOST SHARED anti–drink-driving ad was made by an alcohol company?

Jul 09, 2025

TL;DR

When brands exploit users’ emotions through their marketing (in an obvious or cringeworthy way), it sets the audience off…

Budweiser found a way to make a societal, woke movement to drive sales and awareness, using man’s best friend 🐶

How can you do so with your business, without looking ‘out of touch’, fake/robotic, or performative to the public?

Full breakdown 👇

🧡 Viral Moment
💸 Marketing Strategy
🤖 AI Prompts
🚩 The Challenge
🏆 Results & after effect
💰 Sales & Revenue (If reported)
✔ What You Can Change Now (Steal This!)
🗝 Key Takeaway
🤓 A Fun Fact
🤳 Consumer comments

Viral Moment

Time: 1 min

What’s ‘Cause marketing’? (Simplified)

Cause marketing is often backed by a mission to promote causes like responsible drinking, without pushing a product as the main goal

(Which ironically gives your brand more status, sales, and rep)

It also blends in (1) emotional brand storytelling, making your ad campaign lead with narrative, not stats or selling.

(2) Purpose-driven marketing, your brand can run cause marketing campaigns that support its larger purpose-driven identity.

For example, a skincare brand with a purpose around self-acceptance could run a cause campaign on skin positivity during Acne Awareness Month.

You should also end with a (3) Soft PSA (Public Service Announcement)-like CTA, designed to be shareable, not state-issued.

Every brand/business could be tied back to a cause.

3. AI Prompts

⬇ Cause Marketing AI Prompt (Customizable)

"Write a short, emotional cause marketing script for a [insert product or brand type]. 

The campaign should raise awareness around [insert emotional or social issue] — using storytelling, not statistics. 

Avoid fear, shame, or aggressive selling. 

Anchor the story in a quiet, relatable moment involving a [person/pet/object] that gives the character a reason to heal, change, or show up. 

The tone should feel like a Netflix short — soft, visual, internal. End with a single soft CTA (e.g. 'Be kind to yourself')."

👇 How you can fill it in: 

Elements & Examples	          

Product/Brand (Skincare line, budgeting app, coffee brand)  

Cause/Issue (Mental health, financial stress, loneliness)

Emotional Anchor (Little sister, rescue dog, Polaroid, journal)

Scene Type (Morning routine, long walk, silent car ride)

Soft CTA ( Morning routine, long walk, silent car ride)


💡 Bonus Modifiers (Optional):To refine the tone, add:

“Make it feel like a Netflix short.”

“Make it feel like a letter to a loved one.”

“Make the visuals silent but powerful, with no dialogue.”

“Make the narration internal — like a thought in someone’s head.”

Results

🎬 Campaign Concept: “She Watches Me”
Cause: Mental toll of adult acne and self-worth
Anchor: A younger sister
Tone: Intimate, gentle, reflective
Visual style: Minimalist. Natural lighting. No dialogue except internal narration.
✨ Script:
[OPENING SHOT]
A woman, late 20s, sits on the edge of her bed.
Damp towel on her head. Red skin flushed from a shower.
She stares at the mirror — not with hate, but with exhaustion.
“I used to pick at it until it bled.
Tried every filter. Every cover-up.
I thought fixing my face would fix the way I felt.”
Behind her, the bedroom door creaks open.
A small head peeks in — her 12-year-old sister, toothbrush in hand.
The little one steps into the room and watches quietly.
Cut to:
The older sister begins her skincare routine. Gently.
No rush. No shame.
“Then she started watching me.
Copying the way I dabbed, not scrubbed.
The way I looked in the mirror without apologizing.”
The camera follows both of them at the mirror now — side by side.
Different faces. Same movements.
The younger sister smiles.
“Turns out, I wasn’t just healing for me.”
[CLOSING SHOT]
They walk away from the mirror together — in matching socks, laughing.
Final line appears (text only):
“Someone is always watching how you treat yourself.”
Soft CTA:
“Be kind to your skin. And the version of you she’s becoming.”

4. The Challenge

People were ignoring drink-driving PSAs, and millennials didn’t respond to scare tactics anymore.

Budweiser needed a serious message that wouldn’t kill the vibe (or the brand tone)

So they leaned on something timeless: Man’s best friend

Is there a ‘better’ way to guilt-trip us? Nope.

Not telling people what to do, but rather reminding them of what (and who) they could lose, was the biggest wake-up call to consumers.

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5. Results & Aftereffect

20M+ YouTube views
Picked up for MLB Playoffs + World Series
Massive media buzz (AdWeek, FastCo, BuzzFeed, ABC)
Boosted brand trust with Gen Z & millennials
Thousands of emotional shares, comments, and reactions

6. Sales & Revenue

7. What can change now?

Find your emotional anchor:
What’s your audience's most likely equivalent of Budweiser’s dog?
Is it a sibling? A journal? A late-night playlist? A daily ritual?
Identify it.
Soften your CTA 😭
Skip the “Buy now” type of CTA’s, instead try ones like:
“Make a plan,” or “Take the first step,” or “Be kind to yourself.”
Your CTA should feel like a nudge, not a push sometimes!
Stop showing up only to sell!
Especially if you’re in wellness, finance, education, beauty, or mental health, show up even when there’s nothing to promote.
That’s what makes a brand feel human.

Personalize these for your exact industry or product, or turn them into a checklist/slide.

8. Key Takeaway

Is there a cause your brand can align with to make your product part of a real, HIGHLY emotionally relatable moment, not the hero?

Ask AI:
What cause can my brand align with?

People don’t only share stats. They share what makes them feel.

9. Fun Fact

That Labrador? Same breed as Budweiser’s famous “Puppy Love” Super Bowl ad.

PLUS viewers were so emotionally invested, they made tweets/comments asking for updates on the dog. (He’s fine.)

10. Comments

@ laraschauble

Gotta be the BEST don't drive drunk ads ..ever....

@ AlmaSpiteful

Ugh. Makes me cry every single time.

Brand Viral

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