By Naveen Athrappully
The public backlash against Bud Light is growing after the company featured transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney in a promotional campaign, according to country music singer John Rich.
“The customers decide. Customers are king,” Rich, who founded the Redneck Riviera bar and restaurant in Nashville, said Monday to Fox host Tucker Carlson. “I own a bar in downtown Nashville called Redneck Riviera. Our number-one selling beer up until a few days ago was what? Bud Light. We got cases and cases and cases of it sitting back there. But in the past several days, you’re hard-pressed to find anyone ordering one. So as a business owner, I go, hey if you aren’t ordering it, we got to put something else in here. At the end of the day, that’s capitalism. That’s how it works.”
Decades-long fans of brands are “finding it hard to stay loyal” to them, and going for other companies they can support. “And there are tons of up-and-coming American brands that people are flooding to right now,” said Rich.
Earlier this month, Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Bud Light, sent custom beer cans to Mulvaney featuring the trans activist’s face, a move that was criticized as pushing the transgender agenda. The custom can was created to celebrate a full year of Mulvaney transitioning to “girlhood,” according to the trans star’s Instagram post on April 1. In the ad, Mulvaney is shown promoting Bud Light drinks with the hashtag #budlightpartner.
In a video, singer Kid Rock used Bud Light cans as target practice to express his anger at the promotional campaign. “Grandpa’s feeling a little frisky today,” he said.
Mike Crispi, a podcast host and former Republican New Jersey primary candidate for Congress, had called for a boycott. “Boycott Bud Light and NEVER DRINK IT AGAIN EVER,” he stated in a tweet on April 3.
Last week, Rich asked his Twitter followers about replacing Bud Light after he pulled out the beer brand from his bar. “It’s their right to market it however they want. They’re making a bet [that] this is going to sell more product,” he said about Anheuser-Busch’s marketing tactic.
“What’s happening, Tucker, is people who have been loyal to brands for decades and decades are finding it hard to stay loyal to them, so they start hunting down other brands that they can support. There are tons of up-and-coming American brands out there that people are flooding to, kind of like mine.”
Meanwhile, some are criticizing the conservative outrage over the incident. “People aren’t even hiding their transphobia anymore. It’s just on full display. Current hateful movement fueled by acclaimed researcher and scholar, @KidRock,” Alok Patel, ABC special correspondent, stated in a tweet on April 6.
“The manufactured outrage over Bud Light/Anheuser-Busch’s promo with a trans influencer has gripped America’s right-wing for almost a week. Yes, it’s very dumb and disorganized, AND it can still incite localized offline violence,” Dave Infante, who covers beer business for Vine Repair, wrote in a tweet on April 7.
A ‘Truly Inclusive’ Campaign That ‘Feels Lighter and Brighter’
Bud Light’s promotional campaign with Mulvaney came after it appointed Alissa Heinerscheid as the vice president of the company in July 2022. With her appointment, Heinerscheid became the first woman to lead Bud Light in the company’s four-decade history.
Heinerscheid admitted that she wanted to push an “inclusive” ideology within the company during a March 23 podcast, “Make Yourself at Home,” hosted by Kristin Twiford.
“Female representation in this role has been something I’ve been really committed to … Ever since I took this job, I wanted to try to move the needle in some small choices along the way.”
“I had a really clear job to do when I took over Bud Light. And it was ‘This brand is in decline. It’s been in a decline for a really long time. And if we do not attract young drinkers to come and drink this brand, there will be no future for Bud Light.’ So, I have this super-clear mandate. It’s that we need to evolve and elevate this incredibly iconic brand,” she said.
“What does evolve and elevate mean? It means inclusivity. It means shifting the tone. It means having a campaign that’s truly inclusive and feels lighter and brighter and different. And appeals to women and to men. And representation is sort of the heart of evolution.”
“You gotta see people who reflect you in the work. And we have this hangover. I mean, Bud Light had been kind of a brand of fratty, kind of out-of-touch humor. And it was really important we had another approach.”
Anheuser-Busch was reached out for comment. The company has not made a public statement since the public backlash.
