Bud Light Unapologetic For Partnership With Trans TikToker Dylan Mulvaney
This past Saturday, TikToker and transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney posted a video on Instagram celebrating his newest corporate sponsorship: Bud Light.
The beer company sent Mulvaney a custom-made can with his face on it to celebrate his “365 Days of Girlhood,” journey. Over the past year, Dylan Mulvaney has documented his “transition,” doing his best impersonations and exaggerations of a female, while receiving online praise, several corporate sponsorships, and continuous recognition from the White House.
His newest sponsorship has conservatives up in arms. Country music star Kid Rock used a firearm to shoot through cases of Bud Light in a viral video. “F*** Bud Light,” he said.
Mulvaney has partnered with brands like Ulta Beauty, Haus Labs, Instacart, Crest, Native, EOS, CeraVe, Kate Spade, Ole Henriksen, KitchenAid, and most recently Bud Light and Nike. Daily Mail reported that the TikTok star nets approximately $100,000 per month solely from these sponsorships, and will likely earn $1,000,000 over the course of a year.
Thousands of social media users criticized the beer brand and called for mass boycotts of “the drink pretending to be a beer because the company sponsored a man pretending to be a woman.” Many pointed out that Bud Light clearly doesn’t understand its target demographic, which is absolutely not women, or “trans” women.
“Who is the intended audience for this?” conservative commentator Candace Owens asked on Twitter. Babylon Bee Chief Seth Dillon added, “A woman is a man who drinks @budlight.”
Following the backlash, Bud Light’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch, defended the decision to partner with Dylan Mulvaney, saying that the move allowed the company to “authentically connect with audiences.”
“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.”
Anheuser-Busch statement to Fox News
Bud Light is one of 12 beer brands owned by Anheuser-Busch, though the parent-company partners with several other brands, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic.
James Lindsay believes that the Corporate Equality Index, which is similar to an ESG (environmental, social, and governance) score in that it ranks companies based on their ability to include members of the LGBTQ+ community, plays a significant role in the corporate fealty to the activists.
Anheuser-Busch ranks on the Corporate Equality Index’s list of “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality 2022.”
