Unsold World Cup beer to be sent to winning country, says Budweiser
Fans of beer at the FIFA World Cup have something to cheer about: unsold World cup beer will go to the country of the winning team.
Just two days before the start of the FIFA World Cup, host country Qatar banned alcohol consumption in the eight stadiums that will host the matches. The decision was not the most popular among visiting fans, to say the least. It also left Budweiser with a mountain of beer and no fans to buy it.
It didn’t take the beer maker long to come up with a solution: Budweiser tweeted Saturday that it will ship cases of unsold beer during the tournament to the country that wins the World Cup.
Alongside a photo showing a warehouse full of Budweiser beer, the brand wrote “New day, new tweet. Winning country gets the Buds.”
Budweiser’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBev, said it plans to bring the “celebration from the FIFA World Cup stadiums to the fans of the winning country,” in a statement.
“We will organize the ultimate championship celebration for the winning country. Because, for the winning fans, they have conquered the world. We will share more details as we get closer to the final,” the spokesperson added. The World Cup ends on December 18.
Qatar, a conservative Muslim country that strictly regulates alcohol, had originally planned to allow beer sales during the World Cup. Stadiums were to be allowed to sell beer three hours before kickoff and up to one hour after the whistle.
When they unexpectedly reversed that decision, Budweiser tweeted, “Well, this is awkward,” though the message was quickly deleted. Since 1986, parent company AB InBev has paid tens of millions of dollars each World Cup for exclusive rights to sell beer at the prestigious tournament.
Champagne, wine, whiskey, and other alcoholic beverages will continue to be served
This year’s sponsorship cost $112 million, Yahoo Sports reported. The company plans to ask FIFA for a $71 million discount on its next World Cup deal, according to The Sun.
Champagne, wine, whiskey, and other alcoholic beverages will continue to be served in the upscale hospitality areas of the stadiums, the Associated Press reported. Outside those venues, beer is normally the only alcohol sold to regular spectators.
“As a FIFA partner for more than three decades, we look forward to our FIFA World Cup campaign activations around the world to celebrate soccer with our consumers,” an AB-InBev spokesperson said in an earlier statement.
“Some of the planned stadium activations cannot go ahead due to circumstances beyond our control.”
Don’t drink and drive. Enjoy responsibly.
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