Natty Light $1M Student Loan Payoff Aims to Make Us Long for Keg Beer Days

Friends clinking bottle of beer during travel camping trip outdoor
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Remember all those crazy things you did in college?

Who am I kidding? Of course you don’t.

College is a place of learning, and sometimes that learning has to do with finding out just how fast a cafeteria tray can go down a set of stairs with a sophomore riding it. I get it. After a few beers, college kids do crazy things and create crazy foggy memories.

What were you drinking? You reached for something cheap and light so you could drink plenty of it. You reached for Natural Light. Yeah, it’s more popular than you think. Natural Light, better known at Natty Light, knows exactly who buys its beer and had a Super Bowl ad tuned specifically to thank them.

Natty Light Will Help 25 People Pay Off Their Student Loans

The ad opens with college kids sliding down a makeshift water (or is it whipped cream?) slide in a dorm hallway as Paula Cole sings “I Don’t Want to Wait.”

I imagine people across the U.S. had immediate flashbacks.

“Keep your epic college stories. Not your epic college debt.”

That’s the message that flashed on the screen. OK, you have our attention.

It turns out Natty Light is holding a contest, and 25 winners will each get $40,000 to help pay off their college debt. That’s $1 million the brew is giving away.

To enter the contest, you must:

  • Be 21 years old or older.
  • Live in the U.S.
  • Be enrolled in college or have been enrolled in the last 10 years.

How to Enter

First, you have to get a green tab from the top of a Natty Light can by purchasing a specially marked case of the brew. Of course, if you don’t want to make a purchase, you can also go to Natty Light’s website and click on the blue “Free Entry Mechanism” button to print out a green tab. With your green tab in hand, make a video explaining your inspiration for going to college.

Believe it or not, there are 18 ways to enter using different social media outlets, so you’ll want to go to the contest rules page to see which will work best for you. And if you live in California, you have a whole different set of rules for some reason.

The contest started Jan. 22 and runs through May 6. It is divided into seven different entry periods, so again, you’ll want to read the rules carefully. The first six of these entry periods will produce four grand-prize winners, while the seventh will produce just one grand-prize winner. Each person is limited to one green tab (entry) per day.

A panel will rate the submissions in three areas: creativity, brand voice and relevance to the contest’s theme. The video with the most points in each entry period will win $40,000.

Didn’t win during your entry period? There’s no need to resubmit your video, as all non-winning entries automatically roll into the next period.

If you still suffer from a student loan hangover, it could be your old friend Natty Light that bails you out. That $40,000 would make for one heck of an aspirin.

Tyler Omoth is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder who loves soaking up the sun and finding creative ways to help others. Catch him on Twitter at @Tyomoth.