Super Bowl ad spat threatens big brewers' joint campaign

A planned alliance between the world's big beer makers to lure consumers back to their beverages is at risk after Budweiser's parent AB InBev roasted MillerCoors in a series of Super Bowl commercials for its use of corn syrup, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The state of play: The traditional big brewers have lost market share in the U.S. as drinkers increasingly favor wine, spirits and craft beer, so a joint force of AB InBev, MillerCoors, Heineken and Constellation Brands had planned a joint effort to promote their products. But AB Inbev's ads pushed MillerCoors to drop out of a meeting for the project next month — with MillerCoors' communications head telling the WSJ that the ads could actually serve to harm the wider beer sector.