Bud Light, the Anheuser-Busch InBev’s brand has involved the Cuban-American hip hop star Pitbull into its new TV campaign. The campaign targeting the Hispanic audience first of all, but will run not only on Hispanic TV but on major U.S. broadcast networks as well.

Photo: zimbio.com

The campaign, by Bud Light Hispanic agency LatinWorks, will also include  print, digital and retail executions, says Ad Age.

«Pitbull epitomizes everything that our brand is about. He’s fun. He’s outgoing. He’s social,» said Mike Sundet, senior director for Bud Light «Obviously he has huge appeal within the Latino segment, but like Bud Light, he is broadly appealing [with] huge crossover appeal to the general market as well.» He added: «We’re not even looking at this as a Latino campaign. We’re looking at this as a multicultural campaign that is going to reach all of our core drinkers.»

The new Bud Light campaign might be preparing the ground for a new product called Bud Light Platinum, with a stronger alcohol content by volume ranging from 6% to 8%, according to a report this week by beer trade publication Beer Marketer’s Insights, which cited discussion among distributors. However, there’re no official comments from the company on this.

Armando Christian Perez, aka Pitbull is a first generation Cuban American who has already worked with other big brands such as Kodak and Dr Pepper. Pitbull already participated in the Bud Light Hotel Super Bowl event on February 5, 2011 in Dallas, together with other hip hop stars such as Nelly and Ke$ha.

The new spot, in English and Spanish versions, will feature the Pitbull’s song ‘Bon Bon.’ Viewers will be suggested to use mobile app Shazam, which when held near the ad will direct users to behind-the-scenes footage. The spot plays off the brand’s ‘Here We Go’ tagline in which the beer is positioned as a precursor of good times.

The Bud Light has long been a leader in the Hispanic market but has lost some ground lately facing competition from imports and spirits brands. The A-B InBev is 16th among top Hispanic advertisers, with Hispanic media spending jumping 31.3% last year to $60.7 million, according to the Ad Age Hispanic Fact Pack.