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History
On June 15, 2020, KFC shocked the world with the announcement of an upcoming gaming console called the KFConsole. The console, a collaboration with PC maker Cooler Master, featured a chicken chamber that used heat from the PC components to keep KFC chicken warm. It was teased for release on December 11, 2020, but was indefinitely delayed. While KFC never released the console, the marketing campaign was a tremendous success. Suddenly, KFC was on every gamer’s lips (literally). Even as a pure marketing stunt, it was a huge success. It was therefore no surprise that others soon followed.
On November 17, 2020, Bud Light shook the gaming community with the announcement of its own brand-new console, the BL6. Contrary to popular belief, this was not an attempt to imitate the success of the KFConsole; work on the BL6 had begun long before the KFConsole was announced. If anything, the BL6 was more of a continuation of the CANtroller, the beer-can controller released a few months earlier by Miller Lite.
Work on the BL6 started in January 2020, but the relationship between Bud Light and the gaming community began much earlier. In 2016, Bud Light announced a radical expansion into the digital realm of esports with the unveiling of the Bud Light All-Stars program. Carefully selected by experts, Bud Light would reveal a field of esports athletes from across North America who would compete for votes to become the first-ever Bud Light All-Stars.
Over the years, Bud Light continued its venture into esports by serving as an official sponsor for major leagues and teams, including League of Legends and the Overwatch League. By January 2020, Bud Light was ready to push its relationship with the gamer community even further and contacted The Engine Shop, an industry-leading, award-winning experiential and engagement marketing agency specializing in sports, entertainment, and lifestyle brand activations. Through them, the BL6 found its creator: Michael Marrero.
Michael had been a pivotal contributor at The Gamer Agency, a marketing agency focused on gaming and esports events that The Engine Shop had acquired a few years earlier. When Bud Light contacted The Engine Shop to discuss ways to expand its brand further into the gaming world, it was a natural fit to have Michael as a key contributor. Michael was the one who came up with the BL6 idea. From the start, Bud Light fell in love with the concept because it would show gamers that Bud Light knew how to have fun and would be something concrete that gamers would care about.
At first, Michael and Bud Light explored the idea of a modular console. Every module would be can-shaped. The modules themselves would be placed in a carrier (like a six-pack) to build a personal “ultimate” console. The Engine Shop looked into sourcing plastic can-shaped containers that could hold T-shirts, toothbrushes, Bluetooth speakers, mini controllers, dice holders, and more. These can modules would have been collected by participating in a series of planned activations across the country.
In terms of the modular console, it was going to be delightfully absurd; think space balls (if you haven’t seen that movie, give it a watch).
-Michael Marrero
The Anker Nebula mobile projector was intended to be the module that would serve as the real console. These projectors were the same size as a soda or beer can and ran Android. The plan was to buy a limited number, have them custom-painted or wrapped, and install special builds of Android games on them. Those modules would have been very limited and largely given to influencers and media, though some were also planned to be given away at the events mentioned earlier. When COVID-19 hit hard, the concept of hosting events became impossible, and the team had to change the idea from a modular console to a standalone console.
Although the original concept had to be shelved, the standalone BL6 retained many elements of the original idea. The console would be fully portable and shaped like a six-pack. Instead of an Anker Nebula mobile projector, it featured an integrated ASUS ZenBeam 720 projector connected to the internals of a Surface laptop running Windows 10, an Intel Core i7 processor, and 16 GB of RAM. The “cans” in the six-pack, while not actual modules, each served a different purpose: the front two cans acted as exhaust vents, the two middle cans held the 8BitDo N30 Pro controllers, and the last two cans were built-in koozies (can coolers).
Instead of a custom Android build, the BL6 came with a Windows Kiosk app that served as a dedicated interface for the six built-in games, including Tekken 7, Soulcalibur VI, and RBI Baseball 2020. The BL6 also featured two exclusive games: Flashlight Freeze Tag, a game about hitting other players with the BL6 projector beam, and Six Puck, a hockey-themed game centered around Bud Light (which is actually just Pong).
While the team would have loved to put more power into the BL6, finding small enough PC gaming components with sufficient thermal headroom proved challenging in the time available. Finally, on November 17, 2020, the BL6 was unveiled to the world.
Release
A single console was put up for auction on ShopBeerGear.com with the note: “Bid to be the proud owner of the only limited-edition console available.” All proceeds would be matched by the Bud Light team and donated to the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation to support their “Change is on the Menu” program. With no solid bid-validation system in place, the auction started slowly but was eventually overrun by fake bids, one of which exceeded $2,147,483,648. After the fake bids were removed, some media reported a final winning bid of $50,000. However, Jennifer Kadragich, Supervisor at The Engine Shop, noted that it ultimately raised $24,000 for charity. It remains unclear whether this figure refers to a final bid of $24,000 or $12,000 with an additional $12,000 matched by Bud Light.
Although the auction suggested that only one console existed, at least five were made (along with incomplete prototypes). At least two consoles were sent to YouTuber TimTheTatman to promote the release. Another YouTuber, Svenny McG, has footage of the BL6 being listed on ShopBeerGear.com for $3,000 as a “Buy It Now” option and later marked as sold out, although it is impossible to confirm whether any sales actually occurred.
DemiseAs with most marketing stunts, the BL6 had its moment of glory. The campaign results were very positive, generating nearly 200 million impressions, 241 media placements, and a 12% increase in purchase intent among gamers. Michael Marrero was awarded a Clio Award for his work on the BL6.
Over time, the legend of the BL6 faded, and today it is little more than a footnote in video game history—albeit a very cool one (pun intended).
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| BL6 Flyer | BL6 Specs |
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| QA testing of the units | Clio Awards |
Operation
- Power button: Press once to turn the console on or off.
- Projector: Hold for 5 seconds to turn it on. Press twice to turn it off.
- Cool button: Press once to turn the koozies on or off.
The console can operate on batteries or while plugged in. It has an HDMI output that can be used instead of the projector. It also has a built-in speaker that turns on with the projector.