Beer companies turned Cinco de Mayo into a mass consumer event in the 1980s

In 2013, consumers reportedly purchased more beer on Cinco de Mayo than on Super Bowl Sunday or St. Patrick's Day

Beginning in the early 1980s, breweries positioned Cinco de Mayo as a "Mexican St. Patrick's Day," sponsoring events and targeting Latino consumers. Anheuser-Busch and Miller created Hispanic marketing departments, while Coors spent over $60 million marketing to Latino consumers.

Why Cinco de Mayo is more popular in the US than Mexico

Many in the United States believe Cinco de Mayo (celebrated annually on May 5) is Mexico's equivalent of the Fourth of July, but that's a common misconception: The holiday commemorates a battle in the fight for independence rather than the day Mexico declared independence. Interestingly, the holiday is more celebrated in the US than in Mexico, largely thanks to the Chicano Movement of the 1960s and 1970s.

The long history of alcohol and sports

Spectators have long enjoyed alcohol at sporting events, dating back at least to ancient Rome. This article unpacks how companies leveraged this history to make beer a central part of sporting events and masculine culture.

Total per capita US consumption of beer has dropped 30% since the 1980s

Between 2011 and 2021, AB InBev and MolsonCoors (two of the leading beer parent companies in the US) experienced a combined 17% drop in US market share. Budweiser parent company AB InBev has focused on premiumization and diversifying their product offerings in recent years to combat the losses.

Cinco de Mayo holiday celebrations originated with California's Mexican Americans during the Civil War

California Latinos first celebrated Cinco de Mayo in 1862 through patriotic assemblies called Juntas Patrióticas. Ardent Union supporters, these individuals saw the Puebla victory as a win for democracy against both French imperialism and the Confederate cause.

The Chicano movement revived Cinco de Mayo as a symbol of resistance in the 1960s

After decades of little relevance, Chicano civil rights activists on campuses across the Southwest reclaimed the holiday in the late 1960s. Members of the movement described it as a declaration of cultural pride and self-determination

Anheuser-Busch sold half of its real estate holdings to survive Prohibition

The Budweiser parent company also created and sold out more than 25 different nonalcoholic products during this time, including but not limited to infant formula, frozen eggs, and specialized coffees and teas.

From 1989 to 2022, Anheuser-Busch had exclusive alcohol ad rights to the Super Bowl

That meant if an alcohol company was not owned by Anheuser-Busch (and later after the merger, AB InBev), it could not advertise during the Super Bowl. This monopoly was part of how Budweiser became known for its Clydesdale Super Bowl ads.

Cinco de Mayo is a regional holiday concentrated in Puebla and celebrated with local cuisine

Puebla is considered by many food experts to be an excellent culinary destination. Traditional dishes you may find there on Cinco de Mayo include mole poblano, a complex, dark sauce born in a 17th-century convent; chalupas, fried tortillas topped with salsa and meat; and chiles en nogada, stuffed peppers topped with walnut sauce and pomegranate seeds.

Craft beer is partially responsible for disrupting Budweiser’s US market share

Over the past few decades, as craft beer from smaller breweries has become more popular (as well as seltzers, light beers, and other alternatives), Budweiser’s market share has declined.

A Portland dive bar helped drive Pabst Blue Ribbon's early 2000s comeback by selling cans for $1 apiece.

American beer, by the numbers

This statistics-focused resource breaks down the shape of the beer industry in the US, outlining the amount of beer produced by American breweries, the state cranking out the most beer, and the states with the most breweries per capita.

Bud Light was created to compete in the lower-calorie light beer market

Arguably sparked by Miller Lite's successful 1975 launch, Anheuser-Busch rolled out Bud Light in 1982. The brand faced controversy in 2023 after a sponsorship deal with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, sparking a Bud Light boycott.

The long history of an ancient Andean beer made from corn

And often chewed before brewed. From dank chicherias in small towns to gourmet big-city restaurants catering to tourists, the traditional fermented-corn beverage chicha is still being drunk throughout the Andes. Read more here.

Puebla holds an annual battle reenactment on Cinco de Mayo

Each May 5, the city of Puebla marks the anniversary with festivals and a full military reenactment of the 1862 battle. While Cinco de Mayo is barely observed elsewhere in Mexico, it remains a ceremonial source of local pride in the state where the battle was actually fought.

Almost all Mexican citizens celebrate Day of the Dead

The average Mexican family spends more than $60 USD on celebration elements like flowers, candles, food, and decorations. The holiday also draws more than 2 million foreign tourists to join in the festivities.

Scroll through a Budweiser historical timeline

From Eberhard Anheuser’s purchase of the Bavarian Brewery in 1860 to the Anheuser-Busch and InBev merger that created what became the world’s largest brewer, this historical timeline highlights the most significant moments in Budweiser’s more than 150-year story.

Chicano artists shaped the celebration of Day of the Dead in the US

Beginning in the 1970s, Mexican-American artists have used Day of the Dead components like ofrendas and festivals to combine cultural identity with social justice movements, highlighting indigenous traditions to address issues like gang violence.

Why the craft beer industry is in decline

The trend began in 2024, when more craft breweries closed than opened, and has continued since then. Some blame the rise of canned cocktails, hard seltzers, and non-alcoholic beers, while others point to declining drinking rates for Gen Z.

How Prohibition changed beer

This historical survey from The Beer Connoisseur explores the breweries that survived the government's ban on alcohol production. The common denominator? They all pivoted their business models.

Oktoberfest generates over $1B every year

As one of the largest festivals in the world, Oktoberfest is an economic mainstay for Munich. Analysts estimate the annual beer fest contributes at least $1.4B in revenue to the city alone, accounting for roughly 2% of the city's gross domestic product.

August A. Busch, Sr. was gifted a six-horse Clydesdale hitch to celebrate Prohibition’s end

This helped reveal the marketing power of a horse-drawn beer wagon, so it invested in a second six-horse Clydesdale hitch. The Clydesdales soon went to New York, where they drew a crowd of thousands en route to the Empire State Building. Anheuser-Busch even gifted a case of Budweiser to New York Governor Alfred E. Smith in thanks for his help in the fight against Prohibition.

Unlike its Mexican counterpart, American Coca-Cola contains high-fructose corn syrup rather than sugar

There are a few reasons why American Coke turned away from sugar in the 1980s, but none of them are related to consumer health. This Reader's Digest article breaks down the history behind Coke's recipe change, explaining why the company continues using high-fructose cough syrup.

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

Explore an archive of Budweiser’s past Super Bowl ads

With about 47 of them airing over the past few decades, Budweiser’s Clydesdale ads have basically become synonymous with the Super Bowl—but how many have you actually seen? From 1991 to 2024, this website includes many of Budweiser’s most famous Super Bowl ads.

Cinco de Mayo celebrates the Mexican victory at the Battle of Puebla

On May 5, 1862, Mexican forces under General Ignacio Zaragoza repelled a larger, more well-equipped French army at Puebla. The French endured roughly 500 deaths before retreating. Though the French ultimately captured Puebla a year later, the improbable one-day victory became a symbol of national pride.

Mexican Independence Day is celebrated on September 16

Cinco de Mayo is widely mistaken for Mexican Independence Day. September 16 is the actual date, commemorating the 1810 Grito de Dolores, Father Miguel Hidalgo's call to revolution that launched Mexico's war against Spanish colonial rule.

Budweiser temporarily changed its name to ‘America’ in 2016

In the run-up to the 2016 United States Presidential Election, Budweiser changed its name as part of a marketing campaign that ran from the end of May through the November election itself.

The states in America that drink the most beer

Americans, in 2020, drank on average almost twenty-six gallons of beer per adult aged twenty-one or over, over the course of the pandemic.

Day of the Dead is more than ‘Mexican Halloween'

However, it’s becoming increasingly common to celebrate the two holidays simultaneously. Hollywood films have made Halloween more popular in Mexico and Day of the Dead more popular outside the country. As a result, events like Mexico City’s annual parade now include elements of both holidays.

Day of the Dead has started to blend with Halloween

As American Halloween becomes more popular across the globe, Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations have begun to take on some of its traditions. While some believe this dilutes the holiday, other scholars suggest that Day of the Dead has always been rooted in Catholicism.

Explore why Americans are drinking less alcohol

US alcohol consumption fell 5% in 2025, with beer and wine leading the decline. Economists point to tighter budgets and less face-to-face socializing overall, while younger Americans are increasingly choosing not to drink.

More than 100 types of beer are produced around the world

Beer dates back to ancient times, and since then, the fermented drink has taken on many different styles around the globe, depending on the grain and ingredients used. See how pilsners, IPAs, Sours, and other types evolved from the drink's early history.

During Prohibition, Pabst Brewing Company switched from brewing its Blue Ribbon beer to making cheese.

Visualize every brand that AB InBev owns

The giant beverage holding company AB InBev owns many, many more brands than just Budweiser and Bud Light. From Africa to Asia and beyond, this image helps visualize the immense number of brands that AB InBev is responsible for.

How beer became a part of medieval culture

This history of beer's evolution during the Middle Ages unpacks how the brewing process, which killed harmful bacteria, made beer a safe alternative to water. That fact, along with the Catholic church condoning (and, in some cases, producing) the beverage, helped it evolve into a major commodity.

Dive into the history of beer via comic book

Why was the covered beer stein invented, and what led to the creation of the Vienna Lager beer style? Find out in this article about a 173-page comic book outlining the history of beer. According to creator Mike Smith, the history of beer is a...

Oktoberfests take place all over the world

If you can’t make it to Munich, there are plenty of other places around the world to celebrate Oktoberfest. Cincinnati’s festival, called Oktoberfest Zinzinnati, is the largest in the US, with more than 700,000 visitors eating a (literal) ton of potato salad.

Anheuser-Busch was passed from father to son for five generations

The Busch family put a couple drops of Budweiser beer onto each first-born son’s tongue when they were born, according to family lore. Given their Anheuser-Busch ownership dynasty, the Busch family was considered beer royalty, with a Busch man running the operation up until the $52B InBev acquisition in 2008.

Go inside the ranch where the famous Budweiser Clydesdales live

Budweiser's famous Clydesdales, including the ones you see in Super Bowl commercials, live a cushy lifestyle on Warm Springs Ranch in Boonville, Missouri. The ranch is home to roughly 70 and 80 Clydesdales at any given time.

The film ‘Coco’ sparked global interest in the Day of the Dead

The holiday figures prominently in the 2017 Disney film, which inspired an uptick in Day of the Dead merchandise being carried by national chains like Target and Michaels, sold alongside Halloween merchandise.

Americans spent an estimated $14.8B for the Fourth of July 2025.

The ubiquitous 1990s “Got Milk?” ad campaign was intended to fix milk’s dwindling popularity in the late 20th century

Despite its success in spreading the word about milk, the sales numbers weren’t quite as impressive. This Mental Floss article details the marketing efforts themselves, as well as how milk lobbyists didn’t necessarily succeed despite their revolutionary ads.

Budweiser still uses the same yeast lineage derived from the one used in the 1800s

During the late 1800s when Budweiser beers hit the market, darker, all‑malt lagers dominated the US beer market. Budweiser was brewed with a single, consistent yeast strain that gave it a crisp uniform flavor, differentiating it from darker beers.

Some cemeteries in Mexico are known for their elaborate Day of the Dead celebrations

While most events are small and local, several cemeteries draw tourists from around the country and the world. Mexico City, in particular, is home to the graves of multiple famous artists and musicians who attract crowds.

Budweiser pioneered refrigerated rail transport for its beer in the 1870s

This enabled Budweiser to achieve national distribution long before competitors, fundamentally transforming the US beer industry. It was also among the earliest large-scale adopters to use pasteurization, allowing it to be shipped long distances without going bad.

Many dot-com companies spent some investor money on expensive parties

Parties hosted by dot-com companies were known to be extravagant and expensive. Technology companies in the Bay Area hosted between 15 and 20 parties a week on average, which cost between $30K and $50K on average.

How Guinness became a social media trend

In early 2024, an unexpected meme emerged on Instagram and TikTok: "splitting the G," where Guinness drinkers would attempt to take a first sip big enough to leave the remaining beer perfectly aligned with the middle of the "G" on a Guinness pint glass. This Vinepair article explores where the trend came from and how it took off.

After World War I, consumerism began to usurp frugality as a foundational value in American life and culture.

The Coca-Cola Company also owns Sprite, Smartwater, and many more brands

The parent company owns lots of beverage brands, from sodas to water, including Dasani, Minute Maid, Topo-Chico, and more. You can see all of the roughly 200 brands it owns on its website.