May 2, 2001

11:27 PM

Can advertisers get more stupid? I hope so. I find this entertaining. Bud Light is carding people at the door to their website. Refrigerator door, that is! Type in your birthdate, and enter the fridge. And no fair cheating you juvenile delinquents! Anyone wanna share other Stupid Advertiser Tricks they've found?
I don't know why I care. I drink vodka.
posted by ZachsMind (15 comments total)

They have to do this or get sued up the wahoo.
posted by owillis at 11:31 PM on May 2, 2001

What stops an eight year old from just typing in a birthday that makes him/her 21? Lawyers or no, this is laughably dumb. And it's not like you can actually download a longneck, anyway.
posted by ZachsMind at 11:42 PM on May 2, 2001

Not to mention, you can skip the age verification directly.
posted by waxpancake at 12:04 AM on May 3, 2001

Don't blame Budweiser, blame the idiotic Senators making laws to require this.

I've done a few of these front-doors already, and even though we all agree that it's stupid, the lawyers tell us we have to do it. Right now I'm in the thick of ESRB/COPPA compliance, and you wouldn't believe the things we're required to do.

Any 12 year old kid could figure out that he can just type in a new birthdate to get in, but it relieves websites of culpability. Kind of like the "don't use this hair-dryer underwater" stickers.
posted by perplexed at 12:08 AM on May 3, 2001

Well, it's a good thing that Anheuser-Busch bought a bunch of theme parks so minors can have a fun webpage to redirect to, should they be underage. *snicker*
posted by littleyellowdifferent at 1:16 AM on May 3, 2001

all alcohol sites do this birthday- verifying type thing.
i'm wondering why you're only talking about the bud light site if you drink vodka as you alledge.
posted by elle at 4:40 AM on May 3, 2001

Zach, the same thing that stops minors from getting a fake ID. Conscience?

Is this thing really "stupid?" It seems in line with the 18 and over sites click through. Its more of a compromise that ends up being silly, parents are told to shut up because your kids won't stumble into porn/beer until highschool.
posted by skallas at 5:40 AM on May 3, 2001

They must just be going by year, not day or month. I'm still 20, I put in my birthdate, and they let me in, beer fridge and all.

Seems pretty stupid especially when it doesn't even work right.
posted by gramcracker at 5:43 AM on May 3, 2001

Anyone wanna share other Stupid Advertiser Tricks they've found?

Yes, I have one. How about the media talking heads spinning Dubya up as a legitimate, qualified leader? Now that's stupid! The sad part is how successful they have been. Never overestimate the American public. "You can fool some of the people all of the time and those are the ones we're after." For bonus points name the author of the quote.
posted by nofundy at 5:50 AM on May 3, 2001

*sigh*

time of death 5:50 PST
posted by Mick at 6:09 AM on May 3, 2001

"The sad part is how..."

No, the sad part is how you brought Bush into this thread. Go away.
posted by CrayDrygu at 8:18 AM on May 3, 2001

So, like most others, I entered in a late birthday to see what happens if they don't let you in. The fridge opens and... there's a rat on an ice cube? Maybe it's too early in the morning, but I don't get it.

Redirecting to the theme parks is funny, prominently featuring Cookie Monster and, uhm, Orca.

We should start a new thread about pages you've been redirected to when you tell a p0rn site that you're not 18. I've been redirected to Disney.com and Christian fundamentalist sites. Fun!
posted by robbie01 at 8:27 AM on May 3, 2001

I've got 20 bucks that says the age verification doesn't work because the programmer couldn't figure out how to get it to compare dates right ;)
posted by fusinski at 10:44 AM on May 3, 2001

I enjoy the part where Google links porn sites with Disney *because* so many of them use the "you're under 18? Go here" redirect link. ;-)
posted by baylink at 10:52 AM on May 3, 2001

"No, the sad part is how you brought Bush into this thread. Go away."

Well it's sorta on topic. Bud Light comes from Anheuser-Busch. *smirk*
posted by ZachsMind at 10:24 PM on May 3, 2001