If you’ve purchased a six or 12 pack, or maybe even a case of beer this holiday season, you may have noticed the friendly face of a large St. Bernard on Budweiser’s annual holiday cans.
That St. Bernard’s name is Wilson and he’s a resident of Liberty Township, just north of Cincinnati.
Wilson is just two years old, and his owners, Kelsey Dempsey and Colin Black, say he’s 160 lbs. of love.
"If we're sitting on the couch, he'll come and he wants to get up and cuddle with us for a bit, and he just sits on your belly. And that's a lot of weight," says Black.
Dempsey adds, "Yeah, he thinks he’s a lap dog."
Earlier this year Kelsey and Colin heard about Budweiser’s Pupweiser holiday photo contest.
On a whim, they reposted a holiday pic of Wilson on Instagram using Budweiser's contest hashtag - the St. Bernard sporting a festive Christmas wreath around his neck.
"And then a couple of days later, they messaged me and said, 'Hey, by the way, you're a finalist,' " says Dempsey.
Competing against three other dogs, Wilson pulled out the votes in a social media competition over the next week.
Besides getting his picture featured on the holiday beer cans, the canine recently got a private tour of Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis where he met with the beer-makers famous clydesdales.
There are four holiday Budweiser cans featuring the clydesdales, the traditional Dalmatian, and of course Wilson.
The latter has more than 14,000 followers on Instagram.
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