Matador Mexican pulls Budweiser after Super Bowl ad

One Fort Collins business owner has stopped selling Budweiser after Anheuser-Busch InBev aired a Super Bowl ad that shocked craft brewers and their loyal consumers.

"You'll probably never see a Budweiser product here again," Matador Mexican Grill owner Paul Michaelsen said.

He announced to the Harmony Road restaurant's Facebook fans on Tuesday that he would be pulling all A-B InBev-owned beers, including Mexican varieties Corona and Modelo, from his cooler shelves.

Michaelsen called his beer distributor to say he wouldn't be buying any more A-B products, and by the end of the week he expects to have only craft beers and MillerCoors available in the restaurant.

He said his goal in the act is to support local and craft brewers that were "attacked" by the TV ad.

"There's a lot of people that are working really hard to make craft beer, and to have someone tell them they're doing a poor job at it ... you're always going to get response or push-back."

Budweiser previously made up about half of his bottled beer selection.

The ad Michaelsen is referring to, which first aired at the Super Bowl on Feb. 1, includes a sequence of images and messages that poke fun at the craft beer industry.

For the first time, Budweiser is referred to as a "macro beer" in the ad, not brewed to be "fussed over," and not made for "dissecting."

"The people who drink our beer are people who like to drink beer," the message says.

"(A-B InBev) may have been trying to have a little fun in the commercial," Michaelsen said. But he and other craft industry supporters didn't find it funny.

"... the Super Bowl ad pushed me over the edge, but that isn't really the only issue," Michaelsen wrote in his Facebook post.

He said the commercial was the last straw for him after seeing the company use "strong-arm" business tactics to get more Budweiser beers on store shelves and "to suppress craft beer" competitors. At the same time, A-B InBev has purchased a number of craft brewing companies to compete with that growing market segment.

Craft beer accounts for more than $14 billion of the $100 billion U.S. beer market.

"I am drawing a line in the sand," Michaelsen wrote on Facebook. "You vote with your dollars. Our dollars will no longer go to them (A-B InBev)."

He hopes his small business' push-back will help start a movement with other local establishments. He pointed to bars, such as William Oliver's, that have only carried craft and micro beer products.

When asked if he would ever consider bringing Bud beers back into his lineup, Michaelsen said, "There's no need to. We have way too much quality (beer) around here."

In response to the Super Bowl ad's reception, Budweiser released this statement from its vice president, Brian Perkins:

"'Brewed the Hard Way' is Budweiser's way of celebrating being a MACRO brew: a beer enjoyed by many. The prevailing discourse in beer is that small must be good, and big must be bad. We don't accept that. Lager is one of the most difficult styles to brew well, and we have the highest standards of care to get it right. We are owning who we are without apology.

"We're delighted to have sparked a conversation around beer. Talking with beer drinkers since Sunday, we know the overwhelming majority are really enjoying seeing Budweiser speak up with conviction. This Bud's for them."

Watch the Budweiser Super Bowl ad here: