Anheuser-Busch sponsors SNL to launch new brew

NEW YORK — Anheuser-Busch is buying all the national ads on this week’s edition of comedy mainstay “Saturday Night Live” to launch its new brew, Bud Light Golden Wheat.

The brewer — part of Anheuser-Busch InBev — and NBC Universal announced the sponsorship deal Thursday. This Saturday’s episode will mark the first time in the 35-year history of “Saturday Night Live” that one advertiser has bought all of the national ads for the show.

Neither side has said what the ads cost.

St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch released its wheat-flavored version of best-selling Bud Light last week.

The sponsorship also includes a segment called “Backstage with Bud Light Golden Wheat” that will show never-before-aired clips from SNL through the years.