In the list of headliners we expected for 2023, “Whoopi Goldberg, The New Bud Light Savior” was, frankly, nowhere to be found. Yet, here we are, wide-eyed, beer in hand, watching this sitcom of corporate desperation unfold.
Bud Light, having faced more PR disasters than a politician with a malfunctioning microphone, desperately tried to crawl back into the consumers’ good graces. But with sales nosediving faster than a daredevil without a parachute, the brand was desperately grasping for a lifeline. And Whoopi, of all the lifelines, was their pick.
Bud Light’s new strategy, aptly named “From ‘Whoops!’ to ‘Whoopi!’,” sounds like a maneuver a college kid might make after one too many drinks. But don’t chuckle yet; the idea is audacious. Address recent PR pitfalls, tap into the controversial aura surrounding them, and then toss in the Whoopi wildcard. Might sound like the plot of a bad ’80s movie, but in today’s day and age, any PR could be good PR.
Let’s not forget, this is the same Whoopi who once walked off her own show set after a Bud Light fiasco was mentioned. So, her donning the Bud Light cape seems like a twist even M. Night Shyamalan wouldn’t have seen coming. It’s almost like watching a vegetarian promote a steakhouse.
During her announcement, Goldberg, with her signature candor, said, “After surviving ‘The View’ for decades, a bit of beer banter sounds like a vacation.” One might wonder if Bud Light is her vacation drink of choice or just a career pitstop.
As expected, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and even the forgotten MySpace, were ablaze. While some speculated about a Whoopi themed ‘Sister Act Ale’, others were busy churning out memes. One meme features Whoopi on ‘Star Trek’, proclaiming, “This isn’t the Bud Light year I was expecting!”
The skepticism in the air is palpable. On one side, you have the steadfast Bud Light loyalists who will raise their can to anything, even if it means gulping down a ‘Sister Act’ Special Edition beer. On the other, the cynics who believe this is just another page in the tragicomedy of errors that Bud Light has been scripting lately.
There are also murmurs in dark, beer-stenched alleys: Will Whoopi, with her mix of satire and sarcasm, pull the brand out from its PR quagmire? Or will this union, like many Hollywood marriages, end with both parties drowning their sorrows, ironically, in beer?
As the curtains rise on this theatrical corporate endeavor, the world will be watching. Some with a Bud Light in hand, others with popcorn. Will this be the blockbuster comeback story for Bud Light? Or will it be another addition to the blooper reel?
For now, as we eagerly await the first Bud Light commercial featuring Whoopi in a nun’s habit, all we can say is: Whoopi, here’s to no more ‘whoopsies’ for Bud Light.
