Two weeks ago, transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney announced a limited partnership with Bud Light. To commemorate March Madness and her “day 365 of womanhood,” Mulvaney encouraged consumers to celebrate the tournament with the beer brand while brandishing cans with her face on them.
The subsequent transphobic outroar on social media—which can be summarized by a clip of Kid Rock shooting a gun at a pack and declaring “f**k Bud Light and F**ck Anheuser-Busch—was an expression of the dangers a brand that has epitomized frat culture in the past faces when it tries to widen its demographic.
Mulvaney’s gender identity wasn’t the only thing that sparked outrage among Bud Light fans. The campaign touched on her previous lack of knowledge of March Madness, which angered talk show pundits, social media users and podcast hosts who don’t believe someone with interests outside of sports should be representing a beer brand.
Anheuser Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth issued a statement Friday afternoon about the uproar, without actually addressing the specific partnership.
“We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer,” he said.
In the full statement, which you can read below, Whitworth doesn’t name Mulvaney or the partnership. His message to consumers also doesn’t commit to supporting LGBTQ+ rights after Bud Light previously committed to joining forces with the National LBGT Chamber of Commerce to support local LGBTQ-owned businesses last year.
A new marketing direction
Earlier this year, Bud Light’s vp of marketing Alissa Heinerscheid told Adweek Bud Light needed to “reestablish what this brand is about.” To Heinerscheid, that meant making the brand more approachable to younger drinkers and changing the image of the brand away from slapstick humor with a new brand tagline, “Easy to Drink. Easy to Enjoy.”
She emphasized during the Super Bowl campaign that “female representation is something I’m super passionate about.”
