From PinkNews because I won’t link to stories about this from Fox, New York Post, or CNN—let’s give those clicks to friendly, progressive media outlets that aren’t keen on camouflaging fascists:
Since [the right-wing fury], according to the New York Post, parent company Anheuser-Busch held a meeting to discuss how to handle the backlash, deciding on a temporary redesign of Bud Light and Budweiser aluminium bottles.
An anonymous source revealed that the bottles would have camouflage print and display images of the US “Folds of Honor”, an organisation that gives education scholarships to the spouses and children of dead or disabled US service men and women.
Quoting information from Bump Williams Consulting and NielsenIQ data, the New York Post said that Bud Light has faced a major drop in sales since the collaboration, with numbers down 23.6 per cent in the week ending 6 May, compared with a year ago.
According to the New York Post (to which we shall not link), other marketing initiatives will likely include “discounting the beer at retail stores and investing heavily in sports marketing, and incorporating the U.S. military and country and western music, farmers, law enforcement, and first responders into their advertising.” Ah, yes. Finally, an outpouring of MAGA love and sunshine worthy of Tucker Carlson’s testicles.
And don’t misunderstand: Folds of Honor sounds like a great organization, and it’s nice that Anheuser-Busch is amplifying their work, but it’s a little disconcerting that they’re using a charity to paper over their initial (and rightful) embrace of diversity. (Psst, guys. You had it right the first time.) It’s also odd to think that the brewer’s marketers think camouflage is the opposite of trans inclusivity.
But are they wrong?
RELATED STORY: Fox News Bud Light advertising far more important than Clarence Thomas’ ethics
Of course, MAGAs would have eventually forgotten all about the Bud Light thing after launching a boycott of Game Show Network upon discovering that center square Paul Lynde was gay all along, but a 23% drop in sales is pretty significant.
And then there’s Sen. Ted Cruz’s latest headline-chasing antic: wasting taxpayer money on an investigation of the brewer. Sen. Marsha Blackburn is joining this effort, because of course she is.
MSNBC’s Steve Benen notes that it’s really just that: Cruz (and Blackburn) chasing conservative clout.
Cruz and Blackburn seem to believe they’re initiating an actual investigation. Their letter to the Anheuser-Busch CEO said Bud Light partnership with a trans influencer “warrants detailed oversight by Congress” — no, seriously, that’s what it said — and to that end, the senators made a series of document requests.
To be sure, the beer company can ignore those requests: Cruz isn’t in a position to issue subpoenas or call hearings because, at least for now, there’s a Democratic majority in the Senate. Cruz’s “investigation” carries all the legal weight of an off-hand comment made on his thrice-weekly podcast — which is to say, it has no legal weight at all.
But stunts like these tell us a great deal about who Cruz is, what he values, whom he picks fights with, and how he tries to misuse the power Texans gave him.
Meanwhile, back in the real world, there’s something to be said for standing on principle and not appealing to your customers’ worst impulses. For instance, Miller Lite is suddenly facing backlash over this Women’s History Month commercial from March that some conservatives, hunting for their next bit of viral outrage, just discovered and consider too “woke.”
But Miller is standing its ground instead of cowering, and according to at least one expert, its decision may give it a leg up in the long run.
Days before the rumors of the Budweiser/Bud Light camo campaign, as the rage over the months-old Miller ad took hold, Newsweek spoke with Kelly O’Keefe, a top brand strategist and founding partner of Brand Federation. O’Keefe highlighted the difference in the two companies’ approaches to their respective controversies. For one thing, Anheuser-Busch placed two marketing executives who were involved in the Mulvaney campaign on leave—that “wasn’t voluntary”—while Miller stood by its people.
“Bud Light and their leadership—including all the way up to CEO Brendan Whitworth—made a tragic mistake, I think, trying to keep a hand in both sides and failing miserably at that,” he added.
…
On Tuesday, Adam Collins, chief communications and corporate affairs officer of Molson Coors, told Newsweek: “People can take issue with our ads or our brands, but we won’t stand by as people personally attack our employees—especially given that these are company decisions, and are never made by one single person.”
“What we saw [with] Miller Lite, and especially Adam Collins, was rightly defend Elizabeth Hitch and her work to create advertising that—shocker of all shockers—celebrates women, and their role in beer making in history during a national women’s month,” O’Keefe remarked. “So I think the responses have been markedly different, and I think the result will be significantly different. I would expect Miller Lite to have very little pushback from this. I think they rightly identify that it was a fringe amount of people complaining about it.”
It’s likely that MAGAs would have eventually moved on to another outrage and resumed power-slurping Bud Light (or Miller Lite) during the NFL games they swore they’d never watch again, but LGBTQ+ people likely have a longer memory. Earlier this month, reports emerged of boycotts in response to Anheuser-Busch’s decision to abandon the LGBTQ+ community.
At the end of the day, Anheuser-Busch can do whatever it wants, but there’s value in falling on the right side of history. After all, young people generally support the LGBTQ+ community and their right to exist (and don’t vote for far-right bigots like Cruz and Blackburn). They’ll be drinking beer long after the bigots have commenced doing keg stands with Anita Bryant in hell.
RELATED STORY: Don Jr. and NRCC decide Bud Light is okay after discovering how much Anheuser-Busch donates to GOP
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