On Aug. 25, 2023, the USA World News website on faithhopel.info published a story with the headline, "Breaking: Bud Light Suffers Billions in Losses Immediately After Appointing Whoopi Goldberg as Their Brand Ambassador." It was also posted on lajthiza.info, usacommunity.live, moralstory.press, and potentially other websites.
The article about Bud Light purportedly having hired "The View" co-host Whoopi Goldberg began as follows:
In an already tumultuous year for Bud Light, the brand finds itself in another quandary. Only days after announcing Whoopi Goldberg as their new brand ambassador in an audacious attempt to revive flagging sales, the beer giant is now reporting a staggering loss of billions in market value.
Bud Light's decision to bring on board Goldberg, an award-winning actress, comedian, and 'The View' co-host, was a bold move that was met with mixed reactions. Lauded by some for its audacity, it was also seen by others as a desperate attempt to revive a brand beleaguered by controversy and declining sales. However, no one could have predicted the catastrophic financial blow that was to follow this high-profile announcement.
Bud Light's market value plummeted drastically within days of the announcement, with the company reportedly losing billions. Although it's challenging to attribute this sharp decline to a single event conclusively, the timing of the loss with Goldberg's appointment has raised eyebrows.
A search of Facebook showed that users were placing blind faith in the article, despite the fact that a quick Google search for this supposedly "breaking" story produced zero results from any credible news websites.
Variations of the phrase, "Go woke, go broke," turned up in the comments of several Facebook posts. The mentions of "woke" or "wokeness" refer to a politically tinged controversy surrounding Bud Light's previous partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, which made headlines earlier in 2023.
The truth was that the "breaking news" about Bud Light hiring Whoopi Goldberg appeared to have simply originated on another website as content labeled "satire."
Apparently, in the hours before USA World News published its story, the website chimniii.com posted an article with the headline, "Raise a Glass: Bud Light Taps Whoopi Goldberg to Drive Sales Revival."
Later on the same day, chimniii.com put out another story titled, "Unexpected Outcome: Bud Light's Choice of Whoopi Goldberg Leads to Billions in Losses." Both articles were filed under the website's category of "satire."
For background, here is why we sometimes write about satire/humor.