Flip the Script

The Super Bowl might be the most watched game in the United States, but when it comes to the global stage, the World Cup takes the cake. Coming around only once every four years just adds to the anticipation. Countries from all over the world bid for the honor of hosting the games and massive preparations take place to make the logistics work.

No World Cup has been with some drama, but the current 2022 games have brought with them several controversies around the host country of Qatar - from the building of its infrastructure to the lack of team training time ahead of the first kick-off.

One of the latest is the last-minute change in direction over the sale of alcohol in the stadium just days before the first game was played. Budweiser had dropped $75 million to be the official beer sponsor only to not be able to sell during the tournament.

The official FIFA World Cup beer sponsor Budweiser’s initial reaction to the decision was not the smoothest, reportedly posting and later deleting a tweet that said, “Well, this is awkward.” But their recovery was superb.

Budweiser is now offering the winning team the ultimate championship celebration, providing the entire warehouse of beer slated for the games to the country that comes out on top. Anheuser-Busch paid advertising is still plastered around the stadium and now, they have also received some incredible earned coverage with their quick response and flipped the script of being the official beer of the World Cup, to being the official celebration beer of the tournament.

Regardless of which country takes home the prize, Budweiser is taking home the PR win.