In two separate announcements, the king of beers—Budweiser—said it would venture into the Canadian insurance industry with the launch of Budweiser Insurance.

Addressing those who doubted the seriousness of the effort, Mike D’Agostini, Budweiser Senior Marketing Director, Labatt Breweries of Canada, explained that Budweiser “is known for putting our customers first” and that the pandemic opened the beer makers’ eyes to this “untapped opportunity, which is aimed at providing better security for Canadians and enabling them to live the life they want.”

Further supporting the move with some facts about the increase in online life insurance inquiries, the company said last week that “Budweiser Insurance aims to be a go-to choice for Canadians to add on to any existing coverage plan, with a focus on ensuring summer 2021 is lived to its fullest.”

A second announcement on Monday, June 21, described a first product offering that seems to fall more squarely into the property/casualty than the life insurance space—or more specifically, the specialty contest and event cancellation insurance arenas. The events that Budweiser is fired up about covering are barbecue rainouts or other BBQ mishaps.

“Our consumers love to barbeque and because of that it is a platform that we have always activated around,” said D’Agostini. “We wanted to take our dedication to barbeque season one step further this year by creating something totally ownable for Budweiser and the out-of-the-box nature of BBQ Insurance does just that.”

What Budweiser is calling insurance is more of contest prize. “If anything happens at your barbeque – from getting rained out to running out of propane—you can complete a claim submission at BBQInsurance.com and you’ll automatically qualify for a chance to get a Budweiser BBQ Insurance package, valued up to $2,500,” the company said, noting that there will be a weekly draw for secondary claim packages and three separate draws for the top claim package throughout the summer.

Canadians can start making their claims now, in advance of claim package drawing that are scheduled to take place on June 30.

“Jumping into the insurance space allows us to not only create an innovative part of our business, but also shape a customer-centric approach to insurance that is totally ownable for the Budweiser brand,” D’Agostini said in the initial announcement. “Budweiser Insurance will tap into a specific-type of coverage not currently available to Canadians and will help them enjoy a worry-free summer, because Bud’s got your back.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWVsP1gh_I4

Former NHL Hockey player, Paul Bissonnette, made a pitch for the insurance in a YouTube video.

Source: Budweiser Canada

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