Bud Pong Out; Bud Bong In

St. Louis, MO November 23, 2005 -- Anheuser-Busch, Inc., today announced its latest promotion in retail accounts, Bud Bong. The announcement comes on the heels of its discontinued promotion of Bud Pong, which critics claimed was aimed at underage drinkers and promoted the binge consumption of alcohol.

The company, which makes Budweiser, says that Bud Bong does not promote binge drinking because official rules call for milk to be used, not beer. Bud Bong is a game that utilizes a funnel attached to a hose which is approximately 1 yard long and can hold up to 3 pints of liquid. The objective of the game is to see how much milk can be consumed by a player in a five minute period before having to take a Bud Barf in a Bud Bucket.

Bud Pong, which involved a player bouncing a ping pong ball into a glass of liquid (rules stated it was to be water, but it was usually beer), was discontinued last month due to pressure from various groups. Bud Pong was especially popular on college campuses.

Jeanette Kurtz of Anheuser-Busch says that unlike Bud Pong, Bud Bong should be quite popular amongst all age groups and will not be targeted at underage drinkers. "We expect it to catch on like wildfire," Ms. Kurtz said. "We created it as an icebreaker for adults of any age group to meet each other."

Lauren Masterson of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) cannot believe that Anheuser-Busch would start such a campaign on the heels of the discontinued Bud Pong game saying, “this is just another example of how beer companies claim to promote responsible consumption among adults and to discourage abuse, but at the same time promote such dangerous games.” Ms. Masterson continued, “It seems as though Anheuser-Busch has outsourced its marketing to the Delta House fraternity from Animal House.”

Elmer Hodgekiss of Drunks Against Mad Mothers (DAMM) disagrees, “these beer companies are just trying to add some enjoyment to our lives with new and innovative concepts to pass time at the bar.” Mr. Hodgekiss continued, “what would be irresponsible would be something like attaching an IV tube to a Jägermeister bottle.”

Anheuser-Busch said that Bud Bong has been successfully test marketed in a few regions over the last couple of weeks and will be promoted nationally in December.

By Raoul Thibodeaux, Avant News Staff Writer