I hereby crown Bud Light the Pick of the Litter. Bud Light is the little brother of Bud, the King of Beers. I was on a litter pick-up crew last week (community service, but not court-ordered) and as I slogged through the ditches filling my garbage bags full of throw-out-the-car-window trash, I realized how popular Bud Light is. Not just Bud Light, but some of the rest of the Anheuser-Busch family of beer cans: Bud, Michelob, Busch and Rolling Rock. In the interest of full disclosure, all the trash didn't come from Anheuser-Busch. Miller Genuine Draft was evidenced along with some pop cans, and, of course, the tobacco industry was well represented. But the Bud family was tops.
My pick up partner, Betty, suggested I write about the joys of picking up somebody else's trash, but I've done that before. Whoever came up with this program for saving the state money by getting volunteers to do periodic pickups in exchange for their club name on a sign was a genius. Brilliant. Awesome.
But ideas can come out of a ditch as well as beer cans and cigarette packs. And one did. We all know that the Budweiser folks spend millions and millions in advertising. They are known for sports sponsorships, like, for example, Budweiser is the official beer of NASCAR racing. We have seen Budweiser t-shirts, bowling shirts, softball jerseys, even expensive Budweiser leather jackets. But I have never seen one of those walking advertisements in a ditch picking up trash. We have seen the huge, beautiful Clydesdale draft horses pulling big wagons. But I have never seen Clydesdales pulling wagons through ditches on a pick-up mission.
A few weeks ago, the Bud folks were advertising a Budweiser National Happy Hour for September 29th. Apparently, in an effort to attract some new younger drinkers, free samples of brew were going to be available on the 29th. Was this a good idea? In order to promote their product they also promoted some heavy criticism.
So here's the idea that came crawling out of the ditch. Ditch the free samples happy hour idea -- it's a bummer. Instead have a National Happy Pick-Up Hour every year on September 29th. We all know you had nothing to do with throwing all that rash in the ditches, but neither did the volunteers who are cleaning it up. Send crews of guys and gals in Bud shirts into the ditches picking up the trash that has accumulated there all summer. Take pictures, put them in ads -- send in the Clydesdales and wagons -- make a major production out of it. Get some positive public relations and create some jobs, jobs, jobs.
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So here's my Happy Hour Challenge. Put your money where your empty beer cans are. Bud -- this ditch is for you.
