In the immediate aftermath of Super Bowl 50, just moments after Peyton Manning snagged his second ring thanks to the Broncos' 14-point win over the Panthers, the Broncos quarterback mentioned Budweiser twice. The first mention came during an on-the-field televised interview. The second came on stage after Manning and the Broncos accepted the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
As The Denver Post reported, those shoutouts worked out nicely for Budweiser:
"Apex, using a proprietary formula, initially valued Manning's two casual mentions of Budweiser at $3.2 million. But by the time the West Coast woke Monday morning, the value grew to $13.9 million because people were still talking about it on social media, online, TV and radio."
NFL players aren't actually allowed to endorse alcohol companies. And after the game, Budweiser made sure to note that they did not pay Manning to mention their name.
Hi Internet. For the record, Budweiser did not pay Peyton Manning to mention Budweiser tonight. We were surprised and delighted that he did.
— Lisa Weser (@LisaWeser) February 8, 2016
Now, with that being said, Manning had a clear financial motive to mention Budweiser twice. As The Washington Post reported, Manning "owns a stake of two of the mega-brewer's distributors in his native state of Louisiana, according to trade publication Beer Business Daily."
Furthermore, as Eric Smallwood, managing partner with Apex Marketing Group Inc. told The Denver Post, the fact that Manning mentioned Budweiser in response to a question about his future -- if he'll retire or not -- is huge.
"This was a very captive audience," Smallwood said. "Then to have him on the podium and say the same thing. It was a little surprising to use almost the same vernacular of not just 'I'm going to have some beers,' but 'I'm going to drink Budweiser.'"
