NEW YORK (Reuters) - Anheuser-Busch, locked in a takeover battle with Belgian rival InBev NV , has reached back into its advertising archives to retrieve several of its most patriotic, nostalgic television commercials.

One 2005 commercial brought back by the company features crowds applauding American soldiers; other revived ads star descendants of company founder Adolphus Busch. All of them play heavily on themes of patriotism, tradition and heritage of Budweiser beer.

A top Anheuser-Busch marketing executive, however, says it's only a coincidence that these TV commercials resurfaced during a heated takeover battle with InBev.

"I don't think anything InBev is doing is driving our positioning," David Peacock, vice president of marketing, said in an interview. "It is really rooted in what consumers have told us they think is important about Budweiser."

Back in April, during a meeting with wholesalers, company executives made the decision to bring back the acclaimed commercial showing soldiers walking through an airport to booming applause, Peacock said. Anheuser-Busch first developed the advertisement for the 2005 Super Bowl.

"The commercial had only run twice back in 2005," he said. "So we decided to leverage that commercial during key American holidays -- Memorial Day, Independence Day and Veterans' Day."

Anheuser-Busch, one of the top U.S. advertisers, spends about $475 million a year on advertising, much of which goes to positioning Budweiser as America's beer. Indeed, a current campaign declares that it's the "Great American Lager."

Its patriotic message is perhaps even more conspicuous since the $46 billion takeover fight with InBev began in June. Anheuser-Busch uses Omnicom Group Inc's DDB/Chicago as its lead ad agency.

But while the company isn't sitting back quietly during the takeover fight -- it has run letters appealing to shareholders in various newspapers and has sued its Belgian rival -- there aren't plans to develop a media campaign around the InBev situation, Peacock said.

Still, Peacock acknowledges that several of the commercials have raised questions since their return to TV. But he says they were brought back because they played well with consumers and hit on the company's key marketing messages.

Key to that message, he said, is the company's heritage. In two revived advertisements, August Busch IV, the current chief executive of Anheuser-Busch, and his father, August Busch III, who held the job until until 2002, speak about the tradition of a company founded in St. Louis in the 1860s.

"In our research, consumers like the legitimacy and credibility of seeing them talk about the company and more importantly Budweiser," said Peacock. "When you have Busch family members talking, it brings a lot of credibility."

He added: "These decisions were all made back in May, even before there were rumors of offers coming."

Those spots along with popular advertisements with the Clydesdale horses -- both old and new -- will continue to run over the summer months, including during the Olympics. Anheuser-Busch is also rolling out new Bud Light commercials in the weeks ahead, part of a larger TV budget this summer.

"We've got a very good presence across multiple channels and multiple programs this summer -- more so than we've had in the past," he said. (Reporting by Paul Thomasch, editing by Mark Porter)