Bud Light’s #UpForWhatever comes to Avalon: party or liability?

AVALON — Summer is around the corner and the recreational boating season is picking up, which means Avalon Harbor will be brimming with tourists and visitors for the next few months. However, Avalon will temporarily become a tourist destination of a different kind at the end of this month as Bud Light converts the small city into Whatever Town, USA. Budweiser is bringing its #UpForWhatever campaign to Catalina Island, converting Avalon into a fake beer-themed town themed after a staged question asked to a seemingly innocent bar patron during a Super Bowl commercial in 2014: “Are you up for whatever?” Avalon will receive a financial boost for effectively hosting a three-day commercial shoot, but some residents and visitors ponder how the event will impact them, both during and after Budweiser’s visit. The campaign involves a complete takeover of Avalon between May 29 and 31 to promote Bud Light and continue the St. Louis-based distiller’s nationally broadcast commercial, where Budweiser shares with audiences its ability to transform a town into a destination where people have fun because of the company’s beer line. Crested Butte, a small Colorado town in the Rockies and home to about 1,500 residents, hosted the first-ever Whatever, USA, in September...