As part of a parent company at the center of one of the greatest PR disasters in recent history, Budweiser appears to be making effort to defuse the negative attention generated by Bud Light’s Dylan Mulvaney ad collaboration by appeasing offended customers.
Budweiser and Bud Light are owned by Anheuser-Busch.
Anheuser-Busc lost over $6 billion of its market capitalization last week believed to have been spurred by a boycott of Bud Light by conservatives.
Mulvaney, a 26-year-old trans influencer, documented her transition over the course of a year.
She revealed that Bud Light sent packs of its product with her face printed on the cans as part of an ad for the beer company’s March Madness contest and as a way to celebrate a full year of “girlhood”.
Although a representative explained that the collaboration was the company being “forward thinking” and to “evolve and elevate this iconic brand”, many conservative consumers appeared not to get the memo as a large-scale boycott followed, impacting sales and rubbing off negatively on the parent company’s market cap.
A new ad released by Budweiser on social media last Friday appeals to the ‘true American spirit’ and chronicles the beer company’s journey over centuries.
Budweiser’s ad appeared to be a return to traditional values for the brand which has historically appealed to blue-collar American workers, as against Bud Light’s disastrous outing with its “woke” Mulvaney collaboration, for which the company has apologized.
In a press release titled, “Our Responsibility To America,” Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO Brendan Whitworth said “We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people.
“We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer.”
Budweiser’s one-minute spot features the brand’s iconic Clydesdales horses galloping across the great American plains and by historic landmarks, including the Lincoln Memorial, St. Louis Arch, and the NY Freedom Tower.
As the majestic horses gallop elegantly across the screen, a narrator can be heard saying Budweiser is ‘a story bigger than beer’.
‘This is the story of the American spirit,’ he says.
Apparently, Budweiser got the message. pic.twitter.com/tOLVaZJ9lF
— Myrna 💋💄 (@GigaBeers) April 16, 2023
However, many critics appeared unimpressed as they tagged the company’s new ad as “too little, too late”.
Popular podcast host, Joe Rogan said the company released “the dumbest commercial of all time” last week.
Rogan, who had laughed off the Mulvaney controversy the week prior, found the beer company’s response to the backlash even more hilarious.
“It’s like the f—ing dumbest, pro-America rah rah [ad],” he mocked. “Like, we don’t know who you really are now?” he added.
Many also took to social media to troll the company and share alternative ads mocking Budweiser’s.
WOW
What a powerful response to Bud Light and Budweiser
On behalf of real women, THANK YOU @EgardWatchCo!! 👏
pic.twitter.com/jwu8IvsTZU
— Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) April 20, 2023
I’m Ded!
RiP Budweiser pic.twitter.com/8fEIs6rWmp
— ATX Patriot (@ATX_PATRIOT) April 15, 2023
The girls of Budweiser.
How it started. How it’s going. pic.twitter.com/odSRJRbNVb
— Cold957 (@cold957) April 13, 2023
Budweiser, Patriotic Americans do not want child-grooming, women insulting mainstreaming.
Your new ads are too little, too late. pic.twitter.com/rJ7EKzN4Vt
— See Clearly 🇺🇸 Conservative loving USA (@annierrobins) April 17, 2023