Why is Wisconsin City Paying Charlie Berens $120,000?

A popular Midwest comedian is getting $120,000 from the City of Superior, and you might not believe why.

The Superior City Council has approved, in an 8-2 vote, to cut a check to Wisconsin's most popular comedian for some posts on social media and appearances to endorse the city and locations within the city and to  "promote the City of Superior."

What Comedian Was Hired By The City of Superior?

In a memo to the City Council from the Tourism Development Commission, they recommended the now approved deal between the city and comedian Charlie Berens for a 3-month influencer campaign that includes "two pieces of unique content centric with The City of Superior" on Beren's TikTok, Instagram Reels, Facebook Reels, YouTube Shorts, and X.

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The City of Superior will also get 4 high-quality photos and 4 short videos to use on city owned social media channels for the length of the agreement.

As part of the contract, which you can read here starting on page 624, the City of Superior is also obligated to pay for any travel expenses if the city requests to have content created more than 75 miles from Beren's primary residence, so if he comes to Superior to make the content, the city will be on the hook for "roundtrip air/ground transportation, accommodations, lodging and meals."

Where is The Money Coming From to Pay Charlie Berens?

According to the memo sent from the Tourism Development Commission, the money to fund this influencer campaign with Berens will come from Hotel/Motel tax funds. The agreement between the city and Berens starts on June 1st and runs through August 29th.