Man, oh man, the Budweiser fiasco continues.
Anheuser-Busch, the parent company of Budweiser and Bud Light has been treading in troubled waters for quite some time now after the company partnered with transgender TikTok freak Dylan Mulvaney. Following a more than $6 billion dollar loss, the company sent a letter to retailers disavowing the Mulvaney campaign.
Allow me to catch you up to speed if you’re new here.
In April, Bud Light created a beer can with the face of Dylan Mulvaney on it. Mulvaney is a transgender “woman” that rose to fame this past year with his “days of girlhood” TikTok videos, as well as numerous other partnerships with companies. Supposedly, Bud Light wanted to be more inclusive and attempted to use Mulvaney’s image to target the LGBTQ community. Well, obviously, that failed as the people who drink Bud Light are generally country living, America loving (actual) men, not guys who like to dress up in tutus and wear lipstick.
Following the obvious backlash the brand received, the Bud Light VP of marketing, as well the VP for Budweiser, stepped down from their roles. And now, with a letter from Anheuser-Busch, it seems the brand knows they made a mistake.
If you’re not laughing about all this at this point, please, join us.
In the letter from Anheuser-Busch, the company claimed it “did not intend to create controversy or make a political statement,” backpedaling on the beer can that was crafted with Mulvaney’s face on it. Allegedly, that was “not a formal campaign or advertisement.”
More from the letter included:
In reality, the Bud Light can posted by a social media influencer that sparked all the conversation was provided by an outside agency without Anheuser-Busch management awareness or approval.
Since that time, the lack of oversight and control over marketing decisions has been addressed and a new VP of Bud Light marketing has been announced.
Restaurants by Grey Eagle, which distributes Anheuser-Busch products, also received the letter. A cover letter from Grey Eagle indicated that “In reality, the Bud Light can posted by a social media influencer that sparked all the conversation was provided by an outside agency without Anheuser-Busch management awareness or approval. Since that time, the lack of oversight and control over marketing decisions has been addressed and a new VP of Bud Light marketing has been announced.”
Alright, sure. We'll buy that excuse, however, the damage is already done.
“The minute you step into the political or religious spectrum, when you know your target audience is going to have a real issue with this, you know you’ve alienated at least half of your target audience," Robert Lachky, former chief creative officer at Anheuser-Busch, said.
And, that’s exactly what happened. Numerous celebrities, restaurants, and regular Americans boycotted the brand and it lost tons and tons of money. Get woke, go broke should have become the brand's new slogan.
Time will tell when, if ever, Anheuser-Busch will recover from this. Feel free to sit back and watch with some popcorn and whatever (non-Bud Light) beer of your choice.
