Reality programming comes to the FIFA World Cup 2010 thanks to Budweiser. Anheuser-Busch has launched an advertising and social media campaign last Friday for its beer brand Budweiser.  The campaign revolves around “Bud United” – a reality TV program in tribute to the competition of the World Cup.

Bud United is a series that will follow 32 people living together under one roof in South Africa for the duration of the World Games.  Each of the participants is from one of the countries competing in the games that started last Friday.  The programming will show patriotic fans watching the World Cup together and travelling and exploring South Africa.

To add to the competition of the series, when a country is eliminated from the World Cup, so too will that particular fan be removed from the show also.  The winner of the project will attend the trophy ceremonies of the World Cup on July 11 and will present the coveted trophy for man of the match sponsored by Budweiser.  Budweiser will also sponsor man of the match awards for each game played in the World Cup.

Budweiser has a dedicated YouTube page to air footage daily from the house.  Also included in the campaign is global TV commercials, search engine advertising, online displays, and social networks including Facebook and Twitter.  The campaign is the creation and production of Omnicom agencies DDB and Tribal DDB.

Budweiser has a Facebook page exclusively for Bud United where fans can use applications to change their own personal profile picture to “painted” in the colors of their favorite team.  Also on Facebook and Twitter each contestant will be able to update their page and account in their native language giving a global interaction to the campaign rarely seen before.  Users will also be able to affect events within the house via polls on the Bud United YouTube page.