Budweiser Releases "Hero's Welcome" Super Bowl Commercial and Year-Long Campaign

The premise is simple – every soldier deserves a hero’s welcome, as the spot chronicles a single soldier’s homecoming from Afghanistan. To the soldier's genuine surprise, his entire town of Winter Park, Fla., joined together in welcoming him home. The festivities included a full ticker tape parade, complete with marching bands, antique military vehicles, the VFW motorcycle club and an appearance by the world-famous Budweiser Clydesdales – all a complete shock to Lt. Chuck Nadd, who expected only to see his family waiting for him. During the editing process, Budweiser recognized the content – which includes the town’s preparation and heartfelt messages of thanks from neighbors, casual acquaintances and strangers alike – was too good to restrict to 30 seconds.  As such, the brand has purchased an additional 30 seconds of air time to make “Hero’s Welcome” a full 60-second Super Bowl spot. The spot will kick off a year-long social media campaign in which Budweiser encourages consumers to honor the U.S. military using hashtag #salute. After being released exclusively to active and retired military, here is the full commercial: Army Lieutenant Chuck Nadd, 24, hails from Winter Park, FL. After graduating from Trinity Prep in June 2007, Lt. Nadd donned his Army uniform at West Point Military Academy in July 2007. He chose to serve in the Army based on the patriotism instilled in him at a young age by his parents and his desire to serve his country after the attacks on September 11, 2001. After his graduation from West Point in May 2011, Lt. Nadd began serving as an active-duty officer. On his first tour of duty in Afghanistan, Lt. Nadd served as a Black Hawk helicopter pilot and as an operations officer, coordinating battlefield circulation. Lt. Nadd’s passion for his country stems from his parents – who immigrated to the United States from France – and those who look to the United States for the freedoms he serves to protect.