Miller High Life Wants To Install A Dive Bar In Your Backyard [Updated]
Update, September 18, 2020: Not content to let Natty Light lay uncontested claim to your personal space, Miller High Life has announced that it too would like to dump a bunch of shit in your backyard, in the form of the "High Life Backyard Dive Bar." The miniature bar—which comes complete with "sticky floors," "the dimmest of lighting," and a popcorn machine (!), can be won by texting "DIVEBAR" to 90464 or by visiting www.HighLifeDiveBar.com prior to September 22. As always, make sure you read all of the rules if you'd like to enter and potentially win a beer-soaked shack of your own.
Putting aside the novelty of winning a tiny, flimsy structure in a contest, perhaps the real allure is that these huts are absolutely the grownup equivalent of a backyard tree fort. And given that pretty much everybody is being crushed by constant, unending duties and obligations, maybe that idea seems particularly appealing right now. I mean, who hasn't thought about having their own, tiny semi-permanent retreat where they can drink beer and pretend they're still young enough not to have any real responsibilities?
Original post, August 3, 2020: Back in May we wrote about how the beer company Natural (Natty) Light, that infamous mainstay of college parties and poorly thought-out late night revelry, was hiring a ridiculously well-paid virtual intern. Little did we know that that marketing campaign was just the tip of the company's creative advertising iceberg. Now, Natty Light has announced the prize in its latest contest: an actual portable dorm room (i.e., a shed built on a trailer) and a semester's worth of cheap low-calorie beer, to "preserve some of the freedoms of on-campus living" for those who won't be returning to college dorm halls this fall.
There are a few things worth nothing about this contest. The first is that the "dorm room" is a surprisingly nice looking red-and-blue painted structure that comes complete with lawn flamingos (as seen here), a neon "Natural Light" window sign, and, in the company's parlance, a "semester's worth of beer money, sick tv, heat/AC/electric, chill vibes, mini fridge, [and] no noise complaints." While Natty Light doesn't provide any photos of the interior of the room, the eaves of the structure appear to be a lofted sleeping area, and it also looks like it has ample skylights, making it significantly nicer than the studio apartment I used to rent when I lived in Chicago.
The second thing worth noting is the "semester's worth of beer money" component, which grants the winner a "$180.00 pre-paid card that can be used to purchase two (2) 24 packs of Natural Light beer per month for three (3) months." While Natty Light isn't exactly the most substantial beer in the world, that is still a considerable quantity, so whoever wins this will not be short on cans. The winner of this contest also gets to keep the trailer and its contents, which are valued at $40,180.00, and yes, you will have to pay taxes on it.
Lastly, we wouldn't be doing our diligence if we didn't suggest that you read the terms and conditions in full, both because it tells you how to enter the contest and because of the following contractual requirement, which feels so incredibly era-appropriate that it would be a shame not to specifically point it out:
(c) Background Check: Before the Grand Prize is awarded, potential winner will required to submit to a confidential background check. Such background check may include (but is not limited to) investigation of criminal, sexual offenses, or other arrest or conviction record, and any other factor deemed relevant by the Sponsor to help ensure that potential winner will not bring the Sponsor into public disrepute, contempt, scandal or ridicule or reflect unfavorably on the Sponsor. If requested, potential winner agrees to sign waiver forms authorizing the release of personal and background information.
The contest ends on August 18, so if you're in the market for a mobile dorm room/pandemic Hooverville domicile, read the rules and enter the contest (Supreme Court Justices need not apply).