Aligned with social media trends, namely the growing population of two million Facebook users who are pledging to “Storm Area 51” and unearth the aliens suspected to be housed there, Bud Light approached the craze offering none other than beer—to both customers and “the aliens.” In a July 17 tweet, which revealed an Area 51 Special Edition of its beer cans featuring an alien theme, Bud Light wrote: “We’d like to be the first brand to formally announce that we will not be sponsoring the Area 51 raid.” But a quick follow-up tweet included: “Screw it. Free Bud Light to any alien that makes it out.”
The company shared the alien-themed beer can design on Twitter, which was originally intended as a joke. The tweet pledged that if the post reached 51,000 retweets, the company would, indeed, produce the themed beer cans—and so it did. To remain on trend, Bud Light also temporarily changed its Twitter profile to reflect the black-and-green alien theme of its cans, which has since returned to the company’s traditional blue.
A banner running across the top of the beer cans read “Greetings Earthlings. This is the famous Area 51. We know of no space beer by any other life form which is brewed and aged to be more refreshing. Our cryogenic aging produces a light-bodied space lager with a fresh taste, a crisp, clean finish and a smooth drinkability. Take us to your leader … for drinks.” Also included was text reading, “The universally renowned Bud Light space beer” and “We come in peace.”
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Danielle Renda is associate editor of PPB.
