A-B rolls out Super Bowl ads

Yes, the Clydesdales make an appearance.

And yes, there will be dudes and a dog.

But Anheuser-Busch InBev’s lineup of ads for next weekend’s Super Bowl reflects a bit of a shift for the big brewer on TV’s biggest stage. It highlights two of the company’s top priorities for the year to come – reviving its flagship brand, and launching a new one.

The six spot lineup – a sneak peek of which was given to the Post-Dispatch on Thursday – focuses largely on two beers that A-B InBev hopes will have a very good 2012: Budweiser and Bud Light Platinum.

Platinum, a blue-bottled, higher-alcohol “extension” of Bud Light, will get first billing, with a pair of 30-second spots in the game’s first quarter. The beer is due to hit shelves Monday, and the twin ads represent a coming-out party and reflect Platinum’s target audience: urban, diverse and sophisticated.

“The first says ‘What is Platinum?’ The second is ‘Who’s Platinum for?'” said Paul Chibe, vice president of U.S. marketing for Anheuser-Busch. “The point is to get the word out there.”

Then the focus will shift to a beer everyone already knows, but which could use a shot in arm.

Budweiser will get two minute-long spots in the game’s middle quarters. Both focus on the beer’s long heritage, one set at the end of Prohibition and the other catapulting through the decades since. They come on the heels of news that Coors Light last year overtook Budweiser in sales, and at a time when A-B says “stabilizing” its flagship brand is a top priority. Taken together, the ads tell a story of a beer that has been part of the fabric of American life for eight decades.