Every June it seems, corporations throughout the Western world change their social media logos to something rainbow-colored to mark the start of LGBTQ Pride Month. These companies sometimes release special LGBTQ-branded products or sponsor floats in local pride parades. These ads targeting queer consumers have grown increasingly popular within the last decade, but even before then, alcohol companies, in particular, recognized the market potential of the LGBTQ community.
The company’s response to the conservative backlash suggests that its campaign didn’t come with any real commitment to inclusion.
Though it didn’t come in June, Bud Light recently made a play for queer consumers when it produced a single can of the brand’s beer featuring trans TikTok influencer Dylan Mulvaney’s likeness. On April 1, Mulvaney made an Instagram post promoting Bud Light to her nearly 2 million followers. But the company’s response to the conservative backlash that followed suggests that its campaign didn’t come with any real commitment to inclusion. The Associated Press reported Saturday citing media reports that Alissa Heinerscheid, Bud Light’s vice president of marketing, who oversaw the partnership with Mulvaney, will be replaced and is taking a leave of absence. The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that Daniel Blake, an Anheuser-Bush marketing executive, also took a leave of absence.
The sort of social media promotion campaign that Bud Light did with Mulvaney is ubiquitous in today’s influencer-driven social media world. However, to conservatives, the partnership between a beloved cheap beer brand and a rising trans influencer was too much to take. Former-rocker-turned-conservative-celebrity Kid Rock posted a video of himself shooting up cases of the brand’s beer with a gun, and countless videos of conservatives smashing cases or cans of Bud Light and other Anheuser-Busch products went viral.
After what’s been reported as a significant dip in sales, the…
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