No, it’s not a joke. On April 1, trans TikTok “star” Dylan Mulvaney posted an Instagram video announcing a partnership with Anheuser-Busch to promote the company’s March Madness contest. In the video, Mulvaney drinks a Bud Light from a custom beer can imprinted with an image of his face while dressed as Audrey Hepburn’s character from Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
“I kept hearing about this thing called March Madness,” Mulvaney says in the video, “and I thought we were all just having a hectic month, but it turns out it has something to do with sports,” he jokes. “I’m not exactly sure which sport, but either way it’s a cause to celebrate.”
Mulvaney then shares that he is celebrating 365 days of being a woman, a “journey” which he has been documenting on TikTok in a series called “365 Days of Girlhood.”
“This month I celebrated my 365 days of womanhood and Bud Light sent me possibly the best gift ever — a can with my face on it.”
The public backlash was swift and fierce.
A firestorm erupted on chat boards and social media, with many calling to boycott the brand.
We just refused our #Budlight orders for my liquor store. We are pulling it from our shelves. We are not the only ones according to our reps. They said it's bad.
— T🦅🇺🇸🐊 (@Floridagirl0850) April 5, 2023
Two days after Mulvaney’s post, outspoken rock/hip-hop musician Kid Rock posted an Instagram video in which he pulls out an MP5 submachine gun and fires at a display of Bud Light 12-packs standing in a field.
“Let me say something to all you and be as clear and concise as possible,” he says before opening fire.
“Fuck Bud Light and fuck Anheuser-Busch,” he says, flipping off the camera. “Have a terrific day.”
— KidRock (@KidRock) April 4, 2023
Next, country music legend Travis Tritt announced that he’s having all Anheuser-Busch products removed from his tour bus.
I will be deleting all Anheuser-Busch products from my tour hospitality rider. I know many other artists who are doing the same.
— Travis Tritt (@Travistritt) April 5, 2023
Meanwhile, the brand is taking a savage beating from online parody videos such as this one by comedian Tyler Fischer (it’s not as raunchy as it looks, but it’s still NSFW):
Bud Light responds
Despite unconfirmed rumors that top execs within Anheuser-Busch claimed to be unaware of the partnership with Mulvaney, the company appears to be standing by its man.
“Anheuser-Busch works with hundreds of influencers across our brands as one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences across various demographics,” said a company spokesperson. “From time to time, we produce unique commemorative cans for fans and for brand influencers like Dylan Mulvaney. This commemorative can was a gift to celebrate a personal milestone and is not for sale to the general public.”
Bud Light joins Jack Daniels, Hershey’s Canada, J&B Scotch Whisky Spain, and other brands that have run ads or promoted partnerships featuring trans messaging.
Mulvaney himself has been the subject of corporate marketers’ obsession since Tampax allegedly sent him a free box of tampons last year.
And there appears to be no end in sight.
In the wake of Bud Light’s attempted brand suicide, sports brand Nike has just announced its own partnership with Dylan Mulvaney to promote — and, no, I’m not even kidding you — Nike Women sports bras.
Below: Dylan Mulvaney is now also the new face of Nike Women sports bras.
I don’t know about you, but aside from the obvious virtue signaling, I don’t think that partnerships such as these make a lot of sense for brands like Bud Light, Nike Women, and the consumers who buy them.
Did Bud Light really think its customers would approve of the brand partnering with a trans TikTok influencer?
And what about replacing women with a biological male in a Nike Women’s sports bra campaign says “connecting authentically with women” to you?
April 8 update: Sales of Bud Light are tanking.
JUST IN: Anheuser-Busch affiliate, whose primary sales is bud light says NO ONE IS BUYING THE PRODUCTS and when this happens he can’t feed his family..
“They DON’T KNOW their clientele… “Thanks, Anheuser-Busch.”
— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) April 8, 2023
April 9 update: Damage control begins? This high-flying female exec just fell for The Myth of the Modern Audience. Seriously, lady — get some real ideas.
Meet Alissa Heinerscheid, Bud Light’s VP of Marketing. She explains her strategy of using “inclusive” marketing to promote the brand to young people.
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) April 9, 2023
April 11 update: Bud Light VP Alissa Heinerscheid has deleted her LinkedIn profile.
April 12 update: I’ve been trying for years to figure out what’s behind the woke advertising being pushed by today’s brands. Well, we finally have our answer, and it’s a doozy. You’ll find it in my blog post, “This is why companies are pushing LGBTQ+.”
April 13 update: Oh, boy. Compromising pics have surfaced of GirlBoss Alissa Heinerscheid swilling beer from a condom and otherwise acting “fratty” in college — proving that she always knew who the Bud Light audience is, and was once one of them herself.
April 23 update: Looks like GirlBoss Alissa Heinerscheid is OUT at Anheuser-Busch. She’s taken “a leave of absence” and has been replaced by Todd Allen, most recently global vice president of Budweiser. Meanwhile, sales of Bud Light continue to sink.
Breaking: Bud Light's marketing VP Alissa Heinerscheid is taking a leave of absence https://t.co/p4Jw8kPpJw
— Ad Age (@adage) April 22, 2023
April 25 update: The heads keep rolling! Now Bud Light has put on leave Daniel Blake, Budweiser’s group vice president for marketing and Alissa’s former boss.
May 2 update: The Bud Light sales slump is accelerating. In-store sales are now down a whopping 26 percent, causing one analyst to warn that the brand “is in serious trouble” and may lose its number-one position by the end of the year.
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As soon as this hit the market I had two thoughts 1) Bud Light (a.k.a. swill) made a bad, bad decision and 2) did Kat Von D fall on hard times? Oh my.
Then I heard it was a male. Sorry – no matter how many surgeries of zippering and glory-holing one has, a female doesn’t make.
When the DSM-5 changed their definition of gender dysphoria, things took a turn. That was actually a while ago. While I still don’t think much more than 10-12% of the US population is gay (though it feels like more) I’m still willing to bet that only 3-4% -if that- of the population is trans. That’s probably an overestimate.
I also feel like what gubmint/media/TBTP aims to do is make those percentages a lot larger.. but truly that’s a whole ‘nother conversation for another time!
Kudos to people like Kid Rock and Tyler Fischer (so funny!) for making the clips they have – it puts it in perspective. This is becoming ridiculous. I’m not sure what AB and Alissa Heinerscheid were thinking, but the average Bud Light drinker watches footyball or some otter sports ball, or likely goes on hunting or fishing trips in the weekend, or they’re out working on their cars… not going to raves, clubs, or fashion shows. It’s not the transgendered crowd.
The timing also, could not have been worse. Six souls were lost in Nashville right before this happened and this was due to somebody with mental issues and who was also transitioning. Out of respect for those in Nashville, both AB and the “visibility” march should have been postponed. I digress on this, too.
So Dylan? Never heard of him, but I guess TikTok has. That’s so important nowadays, right? While a lot of Gen Z has their heads up… er, I mean looking down at their phones – and only concerned about influencers, likes, retweets, followers, etc., we’ve got other generations (ya know, the ones with money) who actually DO use the products advertised. So now they want to boycott.
Dylan, to me, represents a misogynistic caricature of a woman, anyway. And he’s celebrating his journey into womanhood? Nike can help with that, I’m sure.
I really don’t care if AB and other sewer juice brands take a hit; I do feel badly for those affected financially, like distributors. However, if their corporate idea is to appeal to the transgendered population, they’ve never listened to or respected their longtime customer base.
Forgive me for the late reply, B.Y. — and thank you for the excellent post. I agree on all points, especially that Dylan Mulvaney represents a misogynistic caricature of a woman whose grating act disparages and disrespects all biological women and anyone who suffers from gender dysphoria.
Thanks for taking the time to comment!
And crap like this leads me to ask, what the fuck is “an influencer”? And what the fuck makes them “an influencer”? Are they powerful superstar athletes? Are they brilliant scientists, gifted doctors saving lives everyday, inspirational philosphers or theologians? Are they the Elon Musks of the world? Are they improving life and liberty for the masses? Or are they self-centered, self-important ants who have figured out how to post up “hey!! Look at me and what I did/bought today. It’s so cool, so chic, and you need to do it/buy it today, too!” And then the mindless cattle follow them into the pens, waiting their turn to be shocked and have their throats slit. I am old enough that I do not fear for myself what lies in the future for mankind, because I know I’ve got at most just a decade and a half maybe. But I cry when I think of my 8 year old grandson and 3 year old granddaughter, as well as everybody else’s young children and grandchildren. Mankind is heading for the cliff, people. Be like Kid Rock, Travis Tritt, John Rich and a few others. Get “woke” about what really matters. Do something meaningful. Lions, not Sheep, people. Lions, not Sheep.
Good post, Robert. Your description of an influencer is apt, as is your assessment of where we are as a society. Is Rome about to fall? All signs point to yes.
Do you choose the red pill or the blue pill?
Careful, Robert. You don’t want us to end up on an FBI watch list, do you?
Already there, I’m sure.
I’ll see you in the gulag, Robert!
To your knowledge have any notable brands ever refused to back down during a sales harming boycott? Or are we heading into uncharted territory?
So far it seems that Bud Light isn’t backing down. New VP of Marketing Alissa Heinerscheid insists that her solution to “evolving and elevating” the “declining” American beer brand — focusing on representation and inclusivity — is the way to grow. (She also describes the brand’s past humor as “fratty and out of touch.”)
I say, you don’t grow your market share by abandoning your existing customers.
Glad I stopped drinking Bud Light years ago. AB forgot who their target audience is. Heard runors that they fired their marketing team. Rumor or not, they probably should do it.
If memory serves, you drink Coors Light too, right? Might have to consider a change, because Coors has a history of trying to “expand its audience” this way, too.
All this in my opinion, as they would say in Berlin, Es ist mir egal. Bud Light and all of its sister beers marketed by A-B are shit beers that no real man would drink. Bud became a ladies’ beer during WWII and apparently is still trying to be a “ladies’” beer. Even if someone politely offers me any A-B beer, I politely turn it down because it’s not worth the effort to drink it in the first place.
Back in the day, I had a girlfriend whose family and friends pretty much drank Bud Light exclusively. I remember accidentally busting the pull-tab on one of the cans early one morning when everyone was over to re-sod the lawn. Shot-gunned that bad boy, which is probably the only palatable way to drink Bud Light. And of course, it gave me a corrosive headache. I haven’t drunk Bud Light since.