Bud Light’s pact with trans activist Dylan Mulvaney sparks outrage, praise
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 05: Dylan Mulvaney attends the 65th GRAMMY Awards on February 05, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
Anheuser-Busch set social media ablaze when beer juggernaut Bud Light celebrated transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney’s "365 Days of Girlhood" with a polarizing promotion.
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The trans activist revealed Saturday that the beer company sent packs of Bud Light featuring the influencer’s face as a way to celebrate a full year of "girlhood" that Mulvaney recently reached. Mulvaney said the cans were her "most prized possession" on Instagram with a post featuring "#budlightpartner." A video then featured Mulvaney in a bathtub drinking a Bud Light beer as part of the campaign.
The announcement was met with significant backlash, with some Twitter users describing the ad campaign as the latest attempt to push gender propaganda. Many people mocked Bud Light over the partnership and even wondered if it was some sort of April Fool’s prank. Conservative singer Kid Rock used several Bud Light cases for target practice in a viral video, and there have been calls to boycott.
"I made a joke that Budweiser has confirmed something I have suspected all along, that Bud Light is a beer made for men who identify as little girls," competitive skateboarder Taylor Silverman told Fox News Digital.
Silverman has been outspoken regarding the transgender community since a transgender woman edged her out for a $5,000 first-place prize in the 2021 Red Bull Cornerstone event. Silverman blasted Bud Light’s promotion as an "attempt at woke virtue signaling," and believes the beer maker dropped the ball.
"Dylan Mulvaney has consistently and continuously made a mockery of women and claims to identify as a girl," Silverman said.
"It's disappointing to see someone making a mockery of females be applauded for it. But there is good news, and that is that we vote with our dollar every single day," Silverman continued. "When companies make it clear that they don't share our value of respecting women, the best way to handle that is to no longer financially support them by purchasing their products and turn to alternatives."
But others celebrated Anheuser-Busch’s decision.
One of Bud Light’s supporters is Bryan Kramer, an award-winning influencer and brand marketing guru, who believes the transgender community is "marginalized" and Mulvaney is the ideal person to lead a national conversation.
"She fits the mold and if you’re looking at a marginalized community, the trans world is the community that’s getting hit. So, as a brand, and lots of brands are trying to approach this, I would approach it the same way, as an influencer marketing campaign, sending out something personalized and creating something that creates connection," Kramer told Fox News Digital.
"I think it’s a win for Bud Light and I think it was a win for other brands," Kramer added, noting that the beer juggernaut essentially served as a guinea pig for corporations who face backlash for similar situations.
"It can become the template, if you will, for what we do moving forward for this marginalized community and others," he said. "The real thing here is that this is about inclusion and diversity and inclusion, and diversity as a whole is not propaganda. It's an essential part of our society."
Kramer continued, "Moving forward, it's something that brands are having to take a position on."
Kramer doesn’t believe critics of the Mulvaney promotion will hurt Bud Light, and he pointed to a popular fast food restaurant as proof that companies can survive backlash.
"Chick-Fil-A took a stance as well, and I've got to say that their brand is standing up just fine," he said. "Brands can take a stance on certain things, they can have polarizing issues and yet, they still remain standing."
In fact, he believes Anheuser-Busch struck gold with the trans activist with Mulvaney, who gained notoriety after interviewing President Joe Biden on transgender issues in October.
"Brands are looking for influencers that break the mold. They're not looking for influencers that are vanilla or status quo. And so, when you find an influencer that's gaining momentum, every brand is working on that. They're looking for rising star influencers, the ones that are on their way up. You don't want an influencer that's already at the top. You want an influencer that is creating some kind of ripple effect right now on the way up just before they reach that status," Kramer said. "And if a brand can find that influencer, that's where they're going to do their best work. And so that's what I think they're doing with Dillon."
Anheuser-Busch defended the polarizing decision.
"Anheuser-Busch works with hundreds of influencers across our brands as one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences across various demographics and passion points. 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," an Anheuser-Busch spokesperson told Fox News.
Fox News’ Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.