Crested Butte, Bud Light controversy builds as Whatever rollout starts

Mt. Emmons overlooks the town of Crested Butte. This town is in a dither over secretive plans to have a beer company take over the town and literally paint it blue for an upcoming weekend as part of an online and television ad campaign.

CRESTED BUTTE Fences are going up around town and so are anger levels in preparation for a huge Bud Light town-takeover beer bash next week that the Crested Butte Town Council has yet to officially approve.

David Daniels, marketing director for Anheuser-Busch's Bud Light brand, confirmed that the "activation" for the company's secretive "Are You Up for Whatever?" ad campaign began Tuesday. It started the day after the council held an 8-hour public hearing that started Monday evening and ended in the wee hours Tuesday morning with no resolution but with a temporary permit for Anheuser-Busch to start building its faux Whatever town.

Part Two of the town meeting is set for Thursday evening when the council is going to vote on a major special event permit for the event.

"Yes, fencing is already going up. That is part of our operational agreement ...that we could have availability this week," said Daniels, who attributed public concerns to a lack of understanding over "the scope and scale of the activation."

Crested Butte resident Sarah Steffens is one of many locals not happy about that activation.

"Just today I took my son to the skate park and we could not get water or use the bathroom facilities because they were blocked off," she wrote in an e-mail Tuesday.

Bud Light has been building up buzz about a fictional town called Whatever since the last Super Bowl. TV commercials and social media videos have teased about a mysterious town the company is creating and have urged Bud Light fans to apply on-line for a visit to Whatever.

More than 100,000 have done so, and more than 1,000 of them have been chosen to be flown to Gunnison and bused to Crested Butte for a giant bash Sept. 5-7. The event will also bring in 300 workers, VIPs, performers and special guests.

"We believe our consumers like us to do big and bold things," Daniels said about the company's first-ever takeover of a town.

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Crested Butte, Bud Light controversy builds as Whatever rollout starts