Travel Headaches For Partiers Trying To Leave Town Created For Bud Light Commercial
(nadbasher)
More than 1,000 contest winners flown into Crested Butte, CO, for a Bud Light commercial were stuck in the fictional town of Whatever, USA, last night, as their numbers apparently overwhelmed the local airport and caused some to miss their flights. The lesson here being, you can NEVER leave the party.
Anheuser-Busch spent $500,000 painting the town blue and turning it into one big beer bong for its “Up for Whatever” campaign, renaming the small resort destination Whatever, USA.
But many of the more than 1,000 contest winners flown in to appear in the two-day event/ad shoot found themselves stranded or experiencing long waits when everyone tried to go home last night, overwhelming the Gunnison-Crested Butte Regional Airport, reports the Associated Press.
One widely circulated tweet seems to indicate that the situation was a bit cramped:
“With more than 1,200 consumers attending Whatever, USA, from all points across the country, it takes time to get through a smaller airport,”a Bud Light spokesman said in a statement last night, while declining to note how many travelers were inconvenienced. “We have a process in place to have all of our guests make the return trip home as safely and smoothly as possible.”
He added that anyone with delays that result in missed connecting flights would have their accommodations covered by the company.
A Transportation Security Administration rep tells the Denver Post there was an issue with some of the planes chartered by the brewers.
“The Transportation Security Administration was contacted early this afternoon after a private security company — hired by three private charter companies — could not keep up with their screening requirements for departing passengers who attended [the event],” he said.
More than 1,000 stranded in Crested Butte after Bud Light party [Associated Press]
Attendees stranded in Colorado after Budweiser’s Whatever USA event [Denver Post]
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