In this Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012 photo, a brewer checks a glass of beer at the Budejovicky Budvar brewery in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic. They've been arguing about a name for 106 years. A small brewer in the Czech Republic and the world's biggest beer maker have been suing each other over the right to put the word Budweiser on their bottles in what has become a David versus Goliath corporate saga. A deal, it seems, will have to wait a bit longer because settlement talks between state-owned Budejovicky Budvar and Anheuser-Busch, a U.S. company now part of AB InBev, have collapsed, according to Budvar's director general, Jiri Bocek. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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In this Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012 photo, a brewer checks a glass of beer at the Budejovicky Budvar brewery in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic. They've been arguing about a name for 106 years. A small brewer in the Czech Republic and the world's biggest beer maker have been suing each other over the right to put the word Budweiser on their bottles in what has become a David versus Goliath corporate saga. A deal, it seems, will have to wait a bit longer because settlement talks between state-owned Budejovicky Budvar and Anheuser-Busch, a U.S. company now part of AB InBev, have collapsed, according to Budvar's director general, Jiri Bocek. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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In this Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012 photo, the director of the Budejovicky Budvar brewery Jiri Bocek during an interview with The Associated Press in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic. They've been arguing about a name for 106 years. A small brewer in the Czech Republic and the world's biggest beer maker have been suing each other over the right to put the word Budweiser on their bottles in what has become a David versus Goliath corporate saga. A deal, it seems, will have to wait a bit longer because settlement talks between state-owned Budejovicky Budvar and Anheuser-Busch, a U.S. company now part of AB InBev, have collapsed, according to Budvar's director general, Jiri Bocek.(AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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In this Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012 photo, a Brewer checks a glass of beer at the Budejovicky Budvar brewery, in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic. They've been arguing about a name for 106 years. A small brewer in the Czech Republic and the world's biggest beer maker have been suing each other over the right to put the word Budweiser on their bottles in what has become a David versus Goliath corporate saga. A deal, it seems, will have to wait a bit longer because settlement talks between state-owned Budejovicky Budvar and Anheuser-Busch, a U.S. company now part of AB InBev, have collapsed, according to Budvar's director general, Jiri Bocek. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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In this Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012 photo a view of the Budejovicky Budvar brewery, in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic. They've been arguing about a name for 106 years. A small brewer in the Czech Republic and the world's biggest beer maker have been suing each other over the right to put the word Budweiser on their bottles in what has become a David versus Goliath corporate saga. A deal, it seems, will have to wait a bit longer because settlement talks between state-owned Budejovicky Budvar and Anheuser-Busch, a U.S. company now part of AB InBev, have collapsed, according to Budvar's director general, Jiri Bocek. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
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In this Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012 photo a worker walks past a line of beers at the Budejovicky Budvar brewery in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic. They've been arguing about a name for 106 years. A small brewer in the Czech Republic and the world's biggest beer maker have been suing each other over the right to put the word Budweiser on their bottles in what has become a David versus Goliath corporate saga. A deal, it seems, will have to wait a bit longer because settlement talks between state-owned Budejovicky Budvar and Anheuser-Busch, a U.S. company now part of AB InBev, have collapsed, according to Budvar's director general, Jiri Bocek. (AP Photo / Petr David Josek)
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In this Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012 photo a worker examines a line of bottles of beer, at the Budejovicky Budvar brewery, in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic. They've been arguing about a name for 106 years. A small brewer in the Czech Republic and the world's biggest beer maker have been suing each other over the right to put the word Budweiser on their bottles in what has become a David versus Goliath corporate saga. A deal, it seems, will have to wait a bit longer because settlement talks between state-owned Budejovicky Budvar and Anheuser-Busch, a U.S. company now part of AB InBev, have collapsed, according to Budvar's director general, Jiri Bocek. (AP Photo / Petr David Josek)
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National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on gun violence. Supporters and opponents of stricter gun control measures face off at a hearing on what lawmakers should do to curb gun violence in the wake of last month's shooting rampage in Newtown, Conn. that killed 20 schoolchildren. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
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Mark Kelly, husband of former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was seriously injured in the mass shooting that killed six people in Tucson, Ariz. two years ago, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on gun violence. Supporters and opponents of stricter gun control measures face off at a hearing on what lawmakers should do to curb gun violence in the wake of last month's shooting rampage in Newtown, Conn. that killed 20 schoolchildren. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
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Former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was seriously injured in the mass shooting that killed six people in Tucson, Ariz. two years ago, arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, for a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on gun violence. She is escorted by her husband, Mark Kelly, right, a retired astronaut, Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., second from left, and the committee's ranking Republican, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, left. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., points to a chart as he speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, during the committee's hearing. Supporters and opponents of stricter gun control measures face off at a hearing on what lawmakers should do to curb gun violence in the wake of last month's shooting rampage in Newtown, Ct., that killed 20 schoolchildren. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Michael Roarty, man behind AB ad campaigns, dies
ST. LOUIS (AP) —
Michael Roarty, the marketing executive behind many of the iconic advertising campaigns that turned
Anheuser-Busch into a beer industry superpower, has died. He was 84.
The brewery and the funeral home handling arrangements confirmed that Roarty died Saturday from a heart attack suffered a day earlier at his home in the St. Louis suburb of Town and Country.
"Mike Roarty leaves a legacy at Anheuser-Busch for his brilliant marketing over many years selling the Budweiser, Michelob and other beer brands," Anheuser-Busch Vice President of Marketing Paul Chibe said in a statement Monday.
"He left an indelible mark at both Anheuser-Busch and in advertising history."
Roarty spent 43 years at Anheuser-Busch and was vice president of marketing from 1977 to 1990, retiring as executive vice president in 1994. During his tenure, the company's share of the U.S. market more than doubled, to 43 percent.
He oversaw campaigns such as Budweiser's "This Bud's for You," Busch Beer's "Head for the Mountains," Michelob's "Weekends Were Made for Michelob" and Bud Light's "Gimme a Light."
"He brought taste and elegance to beer with some of the most memorable marketing in any business of the time," Chibe said.
Roarty is also credited with the brewery's "Know When to Say When" campaign aimed at keeping people from driving drunk.
Roarty played a key role in Anheuser-Busch's involvement in sports marketing. The Sporting News named him the sixth most powerful figure in American sports in 1992, a year before his retirement.
He was elected to American Advertising Federation Hall of Fame in 1995.
Roarty is survived by his wife, a son, a daughter and four grandchildren. A visitation is 4-8 p.m. Wednesday at Bopp Chapel in Kirkwood. A funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at St. Clement of Rome Roman Catholic Church in Des Peres. Burial will be private.
Tags:
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