Bud Light’s parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev lost a reported $4bn in market cap, after customers turned away in droves following the American beer brand’s use of 26-year-old transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in its ads earlier this year.
The beer brand, which was founded in 1852 in St.Louis, Missouri, used the influencer in a series of sponsored TikTok ads in March, which featured commemorative cans produced for the partnership showcasing the model’s face.
The cans were only for PR purposes, rather than going on sale, but the finer details of communication were lost in translation as what followed was a global backlash against Bud Light.
US commentators took to Twitter denouncing the collaboration. With one conservative commentator, John Cardillo, suggesting the beer company take a closer look at their consumer demographics instead of listening to their ‘woke creative teams.’
And US celebrities, such as rockstar Kid Rock, filmed themselves shooting at Bud Light beer cans, saying they’d never buy the beer again and calling for a boycott of the brand.
The all-American beer brand kept quiet, but Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth released a statement two weeks later saying:
“As the CEO of a company founded in America’s heartland more than 165 years ago, I am responsible for ensuring every consumer feels proud of the beer we brew. We’re honoured to be part of the fabric of this country.
“Anheuser-Busch employs more than 18,000 people and our independent distributors employ an additional 47,000 valued colleagues. We have thousands of partners, millions of fans and a proud history supporting our communities, military, first responders, sports fans and hard-working Americans everywhere.
“We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer.”
Then a new ad campaign featuring its all-American roots, with a horse galloping across the plains of America followed swiftly after.
The backlash led to a steep decline in sales and in the week ending June 10, Bud Light sales volume—the number of units of beer sold—was 30.3 percent lower than in the same week in 2022, the largest such drop since the week ending April 1, according to tracking figures by Nielsen IQ.
To claw back sales and customers, Bud Light has launched a new summer marketing campaign, ‘the biggest summer campaign ever,’ which includes giving away $10,000 a week and new TV ads, to focus on the ‘good times.’
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NIKE GETS THE BUD LIGHT TREATMENT
But Bud Light is not the only global brand to get into hot water over a ‘woke-led’ agenda, with sportswear giant Nike also facing backlash from both fans and consumers after its recent collaboration with trans activist Dylan Mulvaney. Mulvaney, 26, posed for a series of pictures and videos promoting the brand’s sports bra and leggings.
But this time, the backlash came from women.
Leading the charge was Olympian swimmer Sharron Davies, who called out the sportswear giant for partnering with a transgender influencer to promote its female sports clothing range.
“We make two steps forward, then this happens. It feels like this is a parody of what women are. Only 1% of the US sponsorship dollar goes to actual females in sport, it feels like a kick in the teeth,” Davies said in an interview with GB news in April.
Advocating a boycott, Davies said: “We can protest. It’s what is left for us at the moment. No one seems to be listening. The only way we can make these companies and governments sit up and listen is to boycott with our wallet. It’s the only thing they listen to,” she added.
The former Olympian argued it was not possible for a biological male to effectively promote products, such as bras, which have to work for women’s bodies. At the time, she said:
“Dylan is advertising sports bras when there’s nothing to put in the sports bra – when actually it’s really important women get proper support when they do sport. It just doesn’t make sense.
“For a long time, Nike sponsored Allyson Felix, one of the world’s most incredible track athletes. Then, when Allyson got pregnant, they reduced her sponsorship by 70 per cent when she had something happen to her that happens only to women.
“Women are being treated with total disdain at the moment, particularly in the world of sport where physiology makes so much difference,” she added.
Meanwhile, transgender US celebrity Caitlyn Jenner also waded in on the row, accusing the brand of ‘erasing women’ after following a woke agenda.
Jenner, a trans woman reality star and former Olympic champion, slammed Nike for the decision to use Ms Mulvaney.
She said: “As someone that grew up in awe of what [Nike co-founder] Phil Knight did, it is a shame to see such an iconic American company go so woke!
“We can be inclusive but not at the expense of the mass majority of people, and have some decency while being inclusive. This is an outrage.”
Nike responded online by asking its customers to “be kind” and “inclusive” saying it would delete any comments that it felt were not in the spirit of a diverse and inclusive community.
FURTHER READING: Check out some marketing tactics from the world’s biggest brands>
WHAT IS THE ANTI-WOKE MOVEMENT?
First used in the 1940s, the term ‘woke’ has resurfaced in recent years as a concept that symbolises awareness of social issues and movement against injustice, inequality, and prejudice.
But supporters of the anti-woke movement and culture emphasise that they want to protect freedom of speech and expression. They argue that conversations about racism, bias and discrimination should take place in an open dialogue without censorship or fear mongering.
WHAT IS CANCEL CULTURE?
The concept of ‘cancel culture’ has been present throughout human history, with societies punishing people for behaving outside of perceived social norms. Over the last few years, it has gained momentum across social media, putting celebrities, brands and media under a spotlight of increased scrutiny around political correctness.
Cancel culture plays a big part in people’s anger around ‘woke attitudes,’ with personalities and careers being destroyed or picked apart for voicing opinions against what is considered to be the socially accepted narrative.
One of the most famous cases being acclaimed Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, who has faced enormous global backlash for supporting the rights of biological women.
In June 2020, she criticised the term “people who menstruate.” And she followed up her tweet with another comment in which she criticised the idea that a person’s biological sex is not real.
At the time, she said: “If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction. If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn’t hate to speak the truth,” she wrote.
“The idea that women like me, who’ve been empathetic to trans people for decades, feeling kinship because they’re vulnerable in the same way as women — ie, to male violence – ‘hate’ trans people because they think sex is real and has lived consequences — is a nonsense.”
Rowling added that she supports transgender rights and took issue with being labelled a “TERF”, an acronym that stands for trans-exclusionary radical feminist.
Sussex University philosophy lecturer Kathleen Stock was also forced to quit her job, as a result of hounding and ostracisation around her gender-critical views and what she saw as the re-defining of the word ‘women’.
In an exclusive interview with BBC Woman’s Hour she talks in detail about this.
Comedians, celebrities and podcasters have all been served the ‘cancel culture’ treatment. With popular global podcaster Joe Rogan saying ‘straight white men’ are being silenced by ‘woke’ culture.
WHAT CAN BRANDS LEARN FROM THIS?
In today’s market, brands need to have a voice and an opinion on social and cultural issues. But in doing so, they must also double down on knowing who their customers are and talking to that consumer, not appeasing the voice of the minority or a cool ‘woke’ agenda, if it ultimately doesn’t fit with the values and ethos of the brand.
It’s a contentious issue and one that doesn’t fit comfortably with many. Brands don’t want to get it wrong, scared to say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing. But in an age where consumers expect the brands’ they love to take a stance on social and cultural issues, it’s a tricky one to navigate. But brands need to learn an expensive lesson from Bud Light, sit up and smell the coffee (or beer!). Otherwise, their customers will…
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