Contestants Claim Budweiser's Burger Competition Was 'Rigged'

Budweiser's first ever Bud & Burgers Championship delivered beer, burgers, and a champion as promised by the title — but some contestants are crying foul. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 10 amateurs cooks from around the country faced off this past Saturday in St. Louis during the beer company's competition for a chance to win $100,000 and have their burger named the winner. Famed chef David Chang (Momofuku) was in town to judge the competition (though that shouldn't be a surprise since last year he publicly proclaimed his love of Bud Light in the pages of GQ). However, contestants don't believe the judging was fair.

@Budweiser, u may wanna fire fusion media. #BudandBurgers was a epic fail from start 2 finish. Really unfair to cooks & fest goers.

— Bobby Parrish (@FlavCity) July 12, 2015

Fox 2 Now writes that many of the competitors are claiming that the competition "was rigged" because not everyone had a chance to sample the food. Apparently a number of attendees — who shelled out $20 for a ticket — didn't get many of the burgers at the event because the competition ran out earlier than expected. One attendee tweeted that she only got "a quarter of a burger out of a possible 10" before the food was all gone. Half of the contestants are also claiming that the competition was skewed in favor of local competitors, one of whom won the competition.

So disappointed in @Budweiser and how the event was ran today. Got a quarter of a burger out of possible 10.

— Rachel Harrison (@Electropop281) July 12, 2015

Budweiser — which is losing fans to craft beer brands — posted a statement on its website apologizing to everyone that was not able to sample each burger. The company notes, "Due to overwhelming interest, we ran out of burgers 15 minutes earlier than expected." Budweiser will offer refunds to anyone who felt like they "did not get the full experience." However, the beer maker has yet to acknowledge claims of competition rigging.