Brewing up a vaccine

I'm no longer arguing about the vaccines, as the insanity rolls on about conspiracies and Chinese laboratories and Fauci making a fortune from it. Those who insist on getting substandard information will carry that information around forever, and that's that. 

But now several states - Maryland among them - are giving lottery-style chances at winning a pitch-pot full of money for getting the COVID vaccine, and there are other blandishments being brandished. Down in gun-loving West Virginia, someone claiming to be the governor went on tv to brag about these prizes: two new customized  trucks, 25 weekend getaways to local state parks, five lifetime hunting and fishing licenses, five custom hunting rifles and five custom hunting shotguns. For those Mountaineers interested in further education, two full four-year scholarships to any institution in West Virginia are up for grabs to vaccinated 12- to 25-year-olds.

And now comes word that Anheuser-Busch, America's largest beer company, will give all of us free suds IF we reach the president's goal of having 70% of us vaxxed by the Fourth of July.

"Anheuser-Busch announced that beer's on them July the Fourth," President Biden proclaimed. "That's right, get a shot and have a beer! Free beer for everyone 21 years or over to celebrate independence from the virus."

For their part, A-B CEO Michel Doukeris said, "At Anheuser-Busch, we are committed to supporting the safe and strong recovery of our nation and being able to be together again at the places and with the people we have missed so much. This commitment includes encouraging Americans to get vaccinated, and we are excited to buy Americans 21+ a round of beer when we reach the White House goal."

All we'll need to do is upload a picture of ourselves sipping a beer at our favorite place, wherever that may be. Send that snap to MyCooler.com/Beer and you'll get a $5 virtual debit card that can be used for an Anheuser-Busch product.

"Since last March, we've been focused on pivoting all our plans in order to ensure that our brands remained relevant and meaningful, through tangible actions," says A-B's chief marketing officer, Marcel Marcondes. "There's never been a better time to be able to say, 'let's grab a beer.'"

As of the other day when I wrote this, dreaming about free beer,  52% of American adults were already fully vaccinated, and 63% had gotten at least one dose.

I hope there's no age limit to these pictures we send in, because I want to use this classic of yours truly at age 17 when some right-wing insurgents from Paraguay forced me to drink beer at a friend's wedding.