Bud Light Will Buy Beer for All of California if Mexico Breaks a World Cup Curse

Bud Light accidentally promised all of Philadelphia beer if the Eagles won the Super Bowl. It seemed unlikely when the season started, then it happened. The brand is going to try its hand at gambling with beer one more time. The new promise from Bud Light was struck just days before the start of the 2018 World Cup.

Launched with a "Dilly Dilly"-themed video, the beer behemoth is promising the King from its "Dilly Dilly" commercials will aid fans of the Mexican national team in California by "helping ye pay for ye celebratory Bud Lights" if the team is able to break the "5th Game" curse during the 2018 World Cup. (That sounds great, though it's not clear yet how much "help" the king will provide for fans during their celebration.)

Breaking the curse does not mean winning it all. It's a much more manageable goal. El Tri simply has to make the quarterfinals. The team has pulled their weight so far, making it out of the Group Stage and into the knockout round where Mexico will have a tough test. They'll have to break the curse against Brazil. 

mexico bud light world cup
Scroll released by Bud Light before the World Cup started. | Courtesy of Bud Light

In every World Cup since 1994, Mexico has advanced out of the group stage. It's awfully difficult to do that with consistency. However, that's about as far as their success has gone. The team has lost in the first game of the Round of 16 in every one of those World Cups. They've failed to make it to the fifth game in six straight tournaments.

Just prior to the match against Brazil, a Bud Light released a new statement, clarifying a bit of what fans in California will get if Mexico advances.

"Dilly Dilly and congratulations to Team Mexico on making it to the World Cup Round of 16," the statement reads. "Bud Light cannot wait to celebrate with Californians should Mexico break the curse of the fifth game. All we’ll share for now is that Bud Light will bestow a royal rebate upon the citizens of California that can be used on Bud Light purchases. We will disclose full details should El Tri prevail, but for now, we do not want to jinx them.

"Why California? California is awesome and we know that El Tri has a huge fan base there.  In fact, during the last World Cup, Californians issued twice as many social posts about Team Mexico than any other state. Bud Light is all about helping consumers celebrate the successes of their favorite sports teams, whether it’s winning the Super Bowl or making it to the fifth game of the World Cup for the first time in 32 years.  Bud Light wants to show up big in these moments and help fans celebrate with America’s favorite light lager and that’s exactly what we plan to do in California."

With the US failing to qualify for the World Cup, this should help fans in California pick a team to back. Beer.

Sign up here for our daily Thrillist email and subscribe here for our YouTube channel to get your fix of the best in food/drink/fun.

Dustin Nelson is a News Writer with Thrillist. He holds a Guinness World Record but has never met the fingernail lady. Follow him @dlukenelson.