• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, February 25, 2014

Coming off its social success at the Super Bowl, Budweiser is again appealing directly to sports fans, along with their fondness for national holidays.

It’s a long shot, but the beer brand is actually trying to establish Major League Baseball’s Opening Day as one of national observance.

Along with a very sharable microsite, Budweiser is relying on WhiteHouse.gov to engage consumers.

To get the ball spinning -- and officially warrant Administration review -- 100,000 fans will first need to sign a WhiteHouse.gov petition within the next 30 days.

To drive signatures, Budweiser just launched an online video series featuring Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith, along with an ad campaign across ESPN.com, MLB.com, among other Web properties.

If and when 100,000 signatures come in, Budweiser plans to celebrate by buying some lucky fans a cold one on Opening Day, March 31.

Tim Brosnan, Major League Baseball executive vice president of business, would love to see Budweiser get its wish. “Millions of baseball fans already consider Opening Day to be an unofficial national holiday,” stated Brosnan. 

The effort is far from the oddest to appear on WhiteHouse.gov’s “We the People” section since the Obama Administration began accepting petitions in late 2011. One seeks to begin construction of a Death Star --  the one from “Star Wars” -- by 2016. Most likely inspired by “Jurassic Park,” another petition seeks to convert at least one of the country’s national parks into a “Dinosaur Clone Park.”