Bud Light’s parent company Anheuser-Busch has been engulfed in controversy over the past few weeks after the brand unveiled a promotional partnership with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
The resulting fall out has caused a veritable PR fiasco for the firm, which has now been boycotted by large swathes of conservative Americans.
Anheuser-Busch made a massive mistake. So massive that now the CEO is out his statement saying: We didn't intend to divide people.
When a brand doesn’t RESPECT its core customer, customers will LEAVE.
Good luck getting them back. Bud Light is forever tainted.
— Trish Regan (@trish_regan) April 15, 2023
In response to the rapidly snowballing situation, Anheuser-Busch’s CEO released a rather non-descript statement in which he said that the historic brand “never meant to be part of a discussion that divides people”, and that he understands “the importance of accountability” and the “values upon which America was founded”.
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If the brand hoped to put out fires with the response, it appears instead to have stoked them, with the bland statement eliciting a second wave of negative criticism – amid revelations that Bud Light sales dropped 11% for the week ending 8 April, with the stock price of one of Anheuser-Busch’s main competitors Molson Coors rising 9%.
The response has also prompted criticism from some trans rights activists who believe that Whitworth validates the vitriolic anti-trans rhetoric that has been levelled at the brand, instead of taking a stand and calling it out.
This statement by Anheuser-Busch ultimately says nothing, and it also says everything. After two weeks of violent rhetoric over a trans woman drinking Bud Light, the CEO is basically saying, without saying it: "We understand why you're upset we validated trans people." pic.twitter.com/Y2FszwdWFF
— Charlotte Clymer 🇺🇦 (@cmclymer) April 15, 2023
With some predicting that the iconic Bud Light brand will now hold off on any Pride-related activity for the foreseeable future, one thing is clear whichever side of the divide critics may be on: the brand’s PR team has woefully mishandled the sitatuion.
