The last time I bought a case of beer other than as a token party gift, was probably 1994 - until today. I bought a case, in fact, of Bud Light. Why the sudden change of heart from ice cold craft beer on tap to warm bottles? Fantasy football, that's why. Now, I'm not sure that the good folks at InBev were targeting me, the 45-54, craft beer drinker - but it really doesn't matter. It worked.
I was alerted to the promotion by the TV commercials, done by Translation which were effective and memorable, well mostly because I bought in. The promotion is simple enough, after the age-gating on the site at budlight.com/ffl, I logged in with my Facebook account and was taken to a screen where I entered some basic demographic information and a team name. It wasn't at all clear what prizes I could win, but like most Fantasy football players, I just wanted to know who's on my team and how can I improve it? Two Buffalo defenses and three Jaguar kickers later, I was still without a running back. Do they really want me to buy more beer?
So, after I entered the codes on my SECOND case, (and $42.70 later) my team was set. There was some initial shock and disappointment after realizing that players aren't listed by name. They are entered rather as NY Giants Kicker or Washington Redskins WR/TE. I'm assuming it had to do with negotiating rights with the NFL Players Association, which could make wither, even the grandest of lead times.
Another word to the wise, there are still plenty of cases available with your favorite NFL team logo. These are not the ones you want. Make sure it has the Bud Light FFL logo on it. Otherwise, you'll end up with lots of warm Bud Light and no fantasy football.
According to Mike Sundet, vice president for Bud Light at Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis, “Year 2 [of our NFL sponsorship] is all about making sure we focus on the fans.” Consider me focused.
