Wrestling legend desires to carry America again collectively, ‘one beer at a time.’
Actual American Beer is setting its sights on turning into as “massive as Bud Mild” by way of a inventive advertising technique that pays homage to its late founder, Hulk Hogan.
It leans on campaigns like alligator looking and a squad of “Actual American Ladies” to advertise its product. Everybody on the startup, led by former Anheuser-Busch InBev govt Terri Francis, dedicated to this mission. Francis instructed FOX Enterprise that it had been Hogan’s dream earlier than his demise in July 2025 at age 71, simply over a yr after launching the corporate.
“His objective was that this is able to be greater than Bud Mild, and… now we’ve got to hold that out,” mentioned Francis, Actual American Beer’s CEO, including that Hogan wished his beer firm to depart an even bigger legacy than his wrestling profession.
Hulk Hogan’s “Actual American Beer” has hit the cabinets at Walmart lower than a yr after launching. (Actual American Beer / Fox Information)
“I really feel a deep duty to hold out what he began,” Francis mentioned.
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Actual American Beer women promote the product at an occasion. (Actual American Beer)
Francis mentioned the corporate has a inventive plan to face out from rivals who she believes have missed the mark on tips on how to market beer. She mentioned the corporate will not be “pushing a message of beer” however will turn out to be a part of “moments which are out of the unusual.” It is a nod to Hogan, who she mentioned had a singular skill to excite and energize these round him.
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Actual American Beer goals to set itself other than rivals by making the beer part of a significant expertise reasonably than specializing in the product itself. It is a tactic, in line with Francis, that’s not like most beer advertising, which facilities on the product itself.
The corporate is deploying a bunch of “Actual American Ladies” to speak concerning the beer and interact with prospects at occasions. As Francis sees it, the corporate is placing a face to a model “in a world the place there are a whole lot of faceless manufacturers.”
Not too long ago, the corporate additionally created a marketing campaign that showcased folks consuming Actual American Beer whereas attempting to find alligators.
Alligator looking marketing campaign with Actual American Beer. (Actual American Beer)
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The corporate additionally plans to make investments in nation music in addition to broaden its partnership with NASCAR. It additionally created its personal Actual American Freestyle wrestling league with FOX Nation.
Earlier this yr, the corporate introduced a multi-year partnership with WWE, underneath which Actual American Beer can be featured throughout WWE’s flagship programming, together with “Monday Night time Uncooked.”
WWE additionally grew to become a minority proprietor within the beer model, which is now bought in 20 states. In April, it secured a take care of Walmart to be in shops throughout eight states: Florida, Illinois, Idaho, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio and Wisconsin.
Actual American Beer women promote the product at an occasion. (Actual American Beer )
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Whereas Dave Williams, president of Bump Williams Consulting, mentioned any new beer model could be “hard-pressed to catch as much as the dimensions of any of the present premium leaders” equivalent to Bud Mild and Miller, he believes that “there stays a whole lot of lager-drinking beer customers on the market throughout the nation, which to me nonetheless reads as a chance.”
Particularly within the home lager market, which stays big, even grabbing 1% of market share can imply massive gross sales, in line with Williams. However that also will not be straightforward. He famous that that is additionally one of many hardest segments to interrupt into, provided that the foremost manufacturers have the means to stay dominant with large advertising and distribution energy.
Actual American Beer women promote the product at an occasion. (Actual American Beer)
Williams famous that some regional and heritage manufacturers, like Lone Star, Rainier, Narragansett and Genesee, have managed to construct loyal followings by leaning on authenticity and native satisfaction. That very same enchantment is what new labels, like Actual American, are additionally making an attempt to faucet into, Williams mentioned.
“There are additionally a whole lot of events and customers nonetheless up for grabs with regards to new authorized consuming age customers or present drinkers on the lookout for an genuine, high quality model to name their very own,” Williams mentioned. “There are nonetheless loads of alternatives for any new model to seek out success. Reaching scale that rivals a class chief like Bud Mild isn’t a process to be taken calmly.”
