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Monday, February 04, 2019

Corn farmers lobby miffed by Bud Light Super Bowl ad

The National Corn Growers Association slammed Anheuser-Busch for its Super Bowl ad that boasted Bud Light doesn't use corn syrup and criticized MillerCoors for using the sweetener in its Miller Lite and Coors brands, The Associated Press reports.

The NCGA, which says it represents 40,000 corn farmers, said in a tweet to Anheuser-Busch that "America's corn farmers are disappointed in you" and thanked MillerCoors for "supporting our industry."

The response from both beer companies highlights their uncomfortable relationship with the corn industry: they use corn syrup to feed yeast in the fermentation process, but are aware of negative public sentiment about the ingredient.

Anheuser-Busch quickly responded that the commercial only sought to "point out a key difference" between Bud Light and its competitors and "provide consumers transparency and elevate the beer category," AP reports. The company stressed that it "fully supports corn growers and will continue to invest in the corn industry."

MillerCoors tweeted back that it does not use high-fructose corn syrup in any of its products, and noted that many Anheuser-Busch products do, AP reports. However, a Twitter user quickly rebutted that the MillerCoors site shows that many of its products use corn syrup (though apparently not high-fructose, the more controversial type), and felt the brand was "being misleading."

Here's the commercial at the heart of the dispute:

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