Bummer Alert: Bud Light’s Bridgerton Hard Seltzer Was An April Fools’ Day Joke
Why are these not real???
ICYMI, Bud Light took to Twitter and Instagram on March 31 to introduce to a new hard seltzer pack called the Really Really Retro pack. Maybe it’s just me, but between the elegant packaging and flavor names like Afternoon Tea and Queen Cake, the collection is seriously giving Bridgerton vibes. But don’t get your hopes up just yet — the brand teased the new sip just one day before April Fools’ Day, which is pretty suspicious timing. Sure enough, Bud Light’s Bridgerton-inspired hard seltzer turned out to be a joke, but TBH I still want to believe.
On March 31, the company dropped hints about the possible Regency era-themed hard seltzer on the official Bud Light Instagram and Twitter accounts. Without mentioning the hit Netflix series by name, the company alluded to the potential collab, writing, “After a weekend of binging our favorite shows, we hereby introduce the Bud Light Seltzer Really Really Retro Pack by order of the Queen of Seltzer.” (If you didn’t know, the second season of Bridgerton dropped on March 25.) Further hinting at a Bridgerton connection, the pack in question includes “waaayyy back flavors: Afternoon Tea, Courtship Cocktail, Queen Cake, and Duke Delight.” Tell me you’re talking about Bridgerton without telling me you’re talking about Bridgerton.
Unfortunately, if it seems to be too good to be true, it probably is. On the afternoon of April 1, Bud Light announced they were just messing with us after all. “#AprilFools...Regency-Era flavors aren't really our cup of tea,” the brand wrote in a follow-up Insta post. “While the Really Really Retro Pack was the talk of the town, we already have a crowned gem with the Bud Light Seltzer Retro Pack.” All I’ll say is that they’re lucky they don’t have to worry about an IRL Lady Whistledown taking them to task for getting all our hopes up, and then dashing them.
To be fair, the timing of all this did make the Really Really Retro pack seem like an April Fools’ Day joke from the start. But given how cute those cans are, can you blame me for being disappointed?
Included in the original March 31 post is a photo of the Really Really Retro white-and-purple seltzer pack — and if you didn’t know, purple is the color of royalty, y’all. Each corner of the pack features drawings of a man in a top hat, two prim and proper women, and a dog (no, not the corgi from the show, but still a cute pup), and the word “seltzer” looks so fancy that can only be described as Bridgerton in a font. Next to the pack is a super realistic-looking can of Afternoon Tea, so I have to believe that it’s real, right? Right?
Although the Really Really Retro pack didn’t turn out to be real, the concept isn’t Bud Light’s first era-themed hard seltzer pack — the company released the Retro Tie Dye pack in June 2021, and IDK about you, but the name of the joke seltzer definitely seems like a callback to the ‘70s-inspired pack to me.
Was I prepared for this all to end with the words “April Fools”? Yes. Am I still kinda bummed? Also, yes. Maybe if we’re all on our best tea-with-the-queen manners, Bud Light will relent and make this happen for real.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include confirmation that the “Really Really Retro” pack is, in fact, an April Fool’s joke. Rats!
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