In this Feb. 24, 2009 file photo, a crowd gathers on Elk Avenue in Crested Butte, Colo., during a Mardi Gras parade celebration. (AP Photo/Nathan Bilow, File)
DENVER (AP) --
Leaders in the historic Colorado mining town of Crested Butte have unanimously approved a plan to turn it into the fictional "Whatever" town for a Bud Light ad campaign.
Town councilors only gave their OK only after Bud Light maker Anheuser-Busch InBev doubled its payment to $500,000.
The Denver Post reports fencing has already been installed for the Sept. 5-7 event that has divided the town.
The beer company has been working with town officials on the plan since the spring, but word only leaked out recently. In the meantime, the mysterious Bud Light event has been promoted online.
Bud Light marketing director David Daniels says the company picked the town for its beautiful location and its reputation for having fun.
The One Club for Creativity announced veteran agency and brand marketer Sergio Claudio has been named to serve as head of the global nonprofit organization’s groundbreaking ONE School, the industry’s only free portfolio program for Black creatives.
ONE School launched in 2020 with cohorts in New York and Los Angeles, expanding to Atlanta and Chicago the following year and the U.K. in 2022. The one-of-a-kind free alternative to ad schools provides new career opportunities for the next generation of creative Black individuals, and helps make agency and brand creative departments more diverse.
The results-oriented program has already made a tangible difference. In just a few years, it has an 80% hire rate at top agencies and brands for its 250 graduates, 60% of whom are women. Graduates have worked on award-winning campaigns and Super Bowl ads for some of the world’s top brands.
Claudio is an award-winning marketing and technology executive with a track record of transforming global creative and marketing at some of the world’s most recognizable brands and agencies, including Adobe, Amazon, Omnicom, Marketo, Apple, and others. He is also a guest lecturer at Stanford, NYU, Temple, and UC Berkeley, where he teaches how to effectively blend creativity, technology, and customer experience.
He first connected with ONE School in 2020 while serving as ECD and sr. director at Adobe, a founding creative sponsor of the program. Over the past four years, he was first a mentor, then head of mentorship and advisor for the school.
“ONE School is the program I wish I had when I was coming up,” said Claudio. “Access and exposure make all the difference when finding opportunities, and luckily I met great mentors who helped open doors... Read More
