I'm reading "Bud Light suffers bloodbath as longtime and loyal consumers revolt against transgender campaign/'In Bud Light's effort to be inclusive, they excluded almost everybody else,' says a St. Louis bar owner" (Fox Business).
1. Since when is the model used in a beer ad representative of the people who drink the beer? It's not a question of who the model is but whether the model will influence consumers to buy the product. No one really cares about the various traits of the consumer. It doesn't matter that only "a fraction of 1%" of viewers of the ad are transwomen. What matters is whether this particular transwoman will influence more people to buy the product.
2. You might buy a product because you identify with the model in the ad, but you might buy it because you're attracted to the model — a skinny beautiful woman might make a fat man like the product — and you might buy it because the ad just caught your attention and made you remember the product so that you recognize it in the store. You might even miss the ad altogether but see that people are talking about the product in social media and in the mainstream news.
3. The opponents of the ad make it viral, and then the question is whether you identify with the opponents — perhaps to the point where you'd participate in a boycott — or whether you find these people uncool and offputting. Maybe you wouldn't have responded to overtly transgender women before but when you see hateful clods railing against them, you know you're on the other side.
4. Who drinks light beer anyway? Light beer ads have always struggled to prove their masculinity. But isn't that old fashioned? Isn't it "out-of-touch"? I don't watch ads, so I'm sure I've missed a lot, but I remember ads that were premised on anxiety that light beer isn't manly enough. The Dylan Mulvaney ad essentially says: We don't worry about that anymore. We can be whatever we want. Relax. Have fun. Have a drink. And isn't that what beer ought to say?
5. Don't like it? Don't drink! Or drink yourself into oblivion. But don't be an asshole. Why are you picking on Dylan Mulvaney? Do you think it makes you look like a man?
Posts
239 comments:
1 – 200 of 239 Newer› Newest»The best comment I've seen on this is that the marketing should have been used by Busch Light, not Bud Light.
"Don't pick on Dylan Mulvany.." He's the flavor of the month and people aren't too keen on it. He makes a mockery of being a woman.
I think you need to turn the statement around and say "Don't pick on 'fratty' and 'out of touch' people." The goal of marketing is to identify your brand's strengths / appeals and emphasize those. If you do want to explore new markets then it's best to do that carefully and also to respect and reinforce the customer base that you already have.
The only thing 'out-of-touch' about 'fratty' humor is that it's usually spot on. As usual, the 'usual suspects' are pissed about the psychologically antifragile hitting the proverbial nail on the head constantly.
You know what's really funny? All this 'fratty' humor would stop if these people stopped providing so much ammunition. But then they go off and do something like this...
...those of us at Phi Alpha Chuckle are compelled to respond in kind.
Expressing an aversion to a Fake Woman advertising a Fake Beer is not 'picking on him'. Being repelled by something is the opposite of endorsing it. But, to tell you the truth - I find that conservative dummies are putting up more pictures of this Approximate Female all over the place than Anheuser-Busch is - and I'm tired of seeing this braying, prancing ass's face. Progressive Democrats know how to make something go away - you just stop covering it. Conservatives seem determined to keeping giving this creep the oxygen he craves. I bet I'm not alone in wanting to be left alone.
Is A-B calling this reaction a success? As for the A-B woman executive - so, she had an internship, became a rising star, and is now an expert, reading for promotion to a more senior VP position. Is that how it works now? Can we still call it the Peter Principle if it's a woman?
Well... Ok then.
It's a bro-haha.
As bad as the headline was in the previous post one need not read pat the headline here. That's pretty much it. I have no interest in hearing about trying to make a martyr out of this Mulvaney fellow...and Bud Light was White Clawed years ago, so it makes sense to bring in someone like this Alissa person to mop up. She's the Carly Fiorina of brand managers. The Buddy Carlyle of product marketing...
As bad as the headline was in the previous post one need not read pat the headline here. That's pretty much it. I have no interest in hearing about trying to make a martyr out of this Mulvaney fellow...and Bud Light was White Clawed years ago, so it makes sense to bring in someone like this Alissa person to mop up. She's the Carly Fiorina of brand managers. The Buddy Carlyle of product marketing...
I always liked Spuds McKenzie. But from Wikipedia: The Spuds McKenzie ad campaign was not without its share of controversy. Shortly after Spuds' rise to fame, it was learned that the dog, portrayed as male in the ads, was actually female.
Anheuser-Busch. Over 35 years of trans inclusivity.
What if they got Bruce Jenner to do it? Would the backlash have been as extreme?
"Why are you picking on Dylan Mulvaney?"
No one is picking on him. He's thrust himself into this position, so it's fair game, whatever the criticism.
He's also not at all serious about whatever it is he's doing. He's just following the money and cashing in. More power to him I guess. Once the money stops flowing and he becomes tiresome, he'll go back to presenting as a man.
Picking on Mulvaney because he is a symptom of the poverty of the left. Transgenderism is nothing more than rampant mental illness being lauded and promoted by the anarchists assaulting society at every turn. Selecting Mulvaney is stark evidence of Anheuser-Busch picking sides in the culture war, so people that oppose the side they chose are correct to shun their product. Pretending this garbage isn't important doesn't play.
I just read about this today.
I believe the public reaction is less due to the actual specifics of their new marketing approach (although they could hardly have chosen a worse one for their customer base) than that it reflects the widespread abhorrence of companies going woke and shoving this crap down the public's throat. Bud Lite just happened to be the most recent, the most visible and, frankly, the most cockeyed example.
And this, of course, is shocking to the Left.
Mulvaney's paid ditzy-diva routine and Heinerscheid, with her corporate-speak, encapsulate what many beer drinkers find offensive about corporate America today.
Nobody”s picking on Mulvaney. Nobody from the Right sought him out to mock hur. We’d love hur to just disappear into obscurity.
Mulvaney is being shoved into our consciousness and our social media feeds by Budweiser, Nike and the Biden Maladministration. Among others.
Mulvaney’s shtick can only be described as a gross parody of womanhood (or girlhood, but that’s even creepier). This isn’t some Conservative pundit finding an obscure TikTok video to mock. This is being shoved into the mainstream by powerful corporations, ad agencies and the frickin; White House.
This is what they think American Womanhood looks like now. Are they right? Are bio women now obsolete? I mean, y’all suck at sports. Maybe you and your sisters should fade away and allow Mulvaney and hur ilk to replace you.
"What matters is whether this particular transwoman will influence more people to buy the product. "
Wrong.
What matters is always what matters: Net Sales Increase.
If, by appealing to mentally ill men who wish to be 6-year-old girls, you sell a few beers to people that person influences, but you LOSE your entire core market, then you haven't done what matters. All you've done is destroy a brand.
I can personally say that I've seen men with Bud Light cans in their hands be LAUGHED off a golf course parking lot in the last week. Can you imagine showing up to a NASCAR race with a case of Bud Light in your purse?
That beer is done for.
DONE. FOR.
Stephen (VodkaPundit) Green's take
TL;DR (even though it's pretty short) - It'll likely work because Bud Light sales have been crashing anyway and the most obvious answer is finding a niche market that will be fanatically devoted to buying an inferior product for virtue signalling reasons. His example is the fall of late night comedy shows from Johnny Carson's cultural dominance to the current crop that don't even come close to Carson's viewership despite a vast larger audience.
Dylan is a boner shrinker. Most guys don't need that or want that. Let Dylan be Dylan, just not in my face.
I think there's another point here. Dylan does not present as an earnest, struggling trans person ("I was born in the wrong body"), at risk of suicide, the way the trans movement is currently being presented. He/she is a caricature of both men AND women, mocking whatever he thinks femininity is supposed to be. I see his public behavior as offensive to both men AND women. His private behavior is, of course, his own. So for a person to have just reached this one-year mark/anniversary of transitioning (whatever that means) and to have received a veritable TIDAL WAVE of endorsement/sponsorships of major corporations....and reached over $1mm of income through it - is ....off-putting to many of those corporations' consumers, it seems. This is corporations'desperate attempt to jump on the current wave and 'be like the cool kids' - not fratty but 'in touch' and a lot of people in their demographic don't like it. I don't drink beer so I can't switch brands. But I would.
This isn't some minor lifestyle choice - this is an extremely serious medical/physical/emotional/surgical change which should be treated as such, not paraded around as fun, cool and cute. This entire trend is dangerous especially for children and adolescents.
Is there really a great, untapped market out there for beer? People know what it is and if they don't drink it they aren't likely to start. A little craft beer can take drinkers away from Budweiser, but Bud and Bud Light aren't likely to poach from the little guys. A segment of the young population may like and participate in today's gender movements, but are they really going to drink Bud Light because of it puts a silly transwoman on a can? And is that group large enough to offset the backlash among other consumers?
Don't like it? Don't drink! Or drink yourself into oblivion.
That is what many people are doing, if we believe the reports. Don't take the froth -- internet comments coming from people like us who have too much time on our hands -- for what is actually going on in the country and in the minds of the many. People in the media and people commenting online are always lashing out at others in the media and online, and not really talking about or to the silent many. They aren't hating on Dylan Mulvaney. They're just taking their business elsewhere.
The last time I had a Bud I myself was "fratty". It's been the company's branding for decades.
The question isn't about Dylan. It's about Alissa. Is she good at her job? Did the branding need to update? What are Bud's sales numbers? Or did Alissa decide to turn her job into a social justice project? People are welcoming when they don't feel they're being taught a lesson by a beer company.
In sports metaphor terms, that was a swing and a miss. By Alissa and largely by the hostess*. Marketing French clothing? Ok, try the fake woman who mocks real women. Marketing trucks, beer, power tools, golf equipment, etc. -- items that men predominantly buy -- then maybe the fake woman who mocks real women isn't the right choice. Plenty of dudes identify with the beer they drink and don't want the forced association with whatever that fake woman represents.
Can count on one hand how many Bud Lights I've consumed in my life. It's awful beer, IMO, and I'd never buy it no matter who or what is on the can. What's in the can is barely drinkable. But it doesn't take a genius to see the disaster of this little marketing stunt. Alissa, who probably identifies as a genius, fucked up. There'll be a short-term sales dip, all the current swill on the shelf go on sale, and people who drink that flavor will buy it again.
*True that this is a brew-haha in a can (nice one AA). It will pass.
I have heard the strategy explained as this: Bud Light was already a niche product, as the beer market has become more fractured and varied, largely through the spread of local brewers. This is attempt to keep the brand relevant with a different group, that may not have been involved before. This explanation was followed by a prediction that it would be successful.
Personally, I do not know. I have never had Bud Light, and do not prefer Budweiser, unless it comes from the Czech Republic.
"We don't worry about that anymore. We can be whatever we want. Relax. Have fun. Have a drink. And isn't that what beer ought to say?"
Actually, no. It says: in your face, buddy. Take this, and swallow. We can be whatever we want, but not deplorable. That's out. Relax, the revolution continues.
"Don't like it? Don't drink! Or drink yourself into oblivion. But don't be an asshole. Why are you picking on Dylan Mulvaney? Do you think it makes you look like a man?"
Actually, it makes you look like you resist the idea that resisting in-your-face trans marketing makes you an asshole.
Here we have another instance of Althouse looking at the event as a singular event (it's not so bad! have a sense of humor! are you being a real man? don't drink if you don't like it!) and other people looking at the event as one more maneuver in the culture war (transgenderism shoved down our throats, FU to traditional customs, inclusion as a way to exclude, beer used as another prog tool).
Do you have the faintest cultural awareness or understanding of people who do not share your sensibilities? The Bud drinkers are generally repelled by contemporary progressive sensibilities. No one is shitting on your Whole Foods with cultural icons that offend you. But perhaps they should.
You don't feel insulted by his "womanface" minstrel act, Ann?
Actually not even woman face since this 26 year old man is pretending to be a teenage girl. Occasionally even an 8 year old girl, Eloise. (who lives in the Trump Plaza Hotel, btw)
I would think you would as a woman.
How would you feel about a white woman in blackface celebrating her "365 days as a negress "? Perhaps not insulted but surely offended.
(I hope negress is acceptable. I use it here to make a point. I'll resubmit or you can change it if it is not acceptable)
“Why are you picking on Dylan Mulvaney? “ — because the progressive/industrial complex is ramming down our throats the idea that repudiating human nature is cool and normal. This is a war, a spiritual war, between those who suppose that humans are completely self determined and those who believe in a Creator who established limits that must be respected in order for humans to flourish. And because their narrative — that we can be as gods— that a man can become a woman and a woman, a man— is a lie, and enough of us are still around who believe we have a duty to defend civilisation from toxic ideologies that we’re willing to go to the mat on this.
"Why are you picking on Dylan Mulvaney?"
This doesn't have to do with "picking on" that guy. The objection is that the A-B company reads our culture as being so pro-trans that they think we'll all be peachy-keen about drinking a Bud Lite because some trans-clown endorses it. It's a beef with A-B and their slander of the state of our culture, not with the clown.
And seriously, how can you regard Dylan Mulvaney as anything but a clown? His presentation of his "365 days of girlhood" was enough to gag a goat. Had any straight man suggested that this was how girls generally conducted themselves, the feminists would have (rightly) excoriated and cancelled him, with prejudice. In the name of equity, Mr. Mulvaney deserves no less.
she was RIGHT! the thing to do, if you are the most popular beer company in the United States,
but; you want MORE customers...
Is to alienate your existing customers, and declare bankruptcy.. That's The Ticket!!!
The Dixie Chicks abandoned their core fan base to get an audience more in line with their values. I would imagine they ended up leaving a bunch of money on the table.
Bud Light is what it is. I would imagine that it is a cash cow. Why blow your brand equity by trying to trade one set of reliable consumers for one that might not be so reliable?
The smart play would be to use the cash generated by Bud Light and invest it new products that will attract the new consumers you want. This is what Ford did with the Town Car/Crown Vic/Grand Marquis. If the Bud Light Marketing VP worked,for,Ford,then her plan would have been to sell those cars to GenXers and it would have failed spectacularly.
You are what you drink and drive. But not at the same time.
This white liberal woman went to Groton, Harvard (English Lit.) and Wharton. She's the one out of touch. She was hailed as the first woman to head marketing at AB. She should have been fired yesterday.
The Brazilians had a hostile takeover of AB from the Busch family. I still don't know how they pulled that off. It is clear that the new owners slashed ad spending and then made this stupid move. I wonder if this boycott has legs. I think the Canadians own Miller. Not expecting anything from the Canucks.
August Busch IV should put together a new company and buy it back.
People aren't picking on Dylan. No one really gives a shit. People are complaining about Bud Light forcing us to pay attention to Dylan.
And if you are interested in inclusivity, you probably shouldn't begin by insulting your current customers.
About your #4. I had a former neighbor who would drink a 12-pack of Budlight every day. Somedays he would drink 18, so he said, when he could talk coherently, which was nearly never. I got to thinking then that the attraction of this brand to extremely heavy drinkers was 1) it was cheap, 2) they could drink a lot more of them before passing out, 3) the average Bud light drinker is not concerned with calories.
Near our new house, far away from my old neighbor, where I walk the dogs along a rural road, I can see Bud Light cans in the ditch, in the desert, by the hundreds, seemingly to the exclusion of other beer cans or even other garbage. I initially thought they were just more visible because of the blue color. No. I concluded the average Bud light drinker is not concerned with littering.
The average Bud light drinker is not watching television ads and adjusting his behavior. He will get his 24-pack at the 7-11 as always, and not concern himself with whoever else might buy the product. Budlight knows their core customer.
(BTW I will not knowingly drink a Budweiser product. I will not support the family of a murderer, especially in my home town. This poses no problem for me deciding what libation to buy.)
“ Do you think it makes you look like a man?”
Can we start by admitting that’s not a neutral question. There is obvious disapproval in it. It’s an attempt to hector people into shutting up.
Alissa Heinerscheid made a marketing decision to target a group of Gen-Zers with this targeted campaign. Was she blinded by her wokeness versus reality? That answer will be coming soon. My best friend works for an independent marketing research company that looks at sales in geographic areas. It may well improve Bud Light and Anheuser-Busch sales in an area like San Fransisco. On the flip side, it may well destroy sales in geographical areas that are Bud Light’s core target group. My friend’s market research company will be looking at Bud Light sales and should have the answer by the end of April. Anheuser-Busch may be going by the dictum “How do you end up with a small fortune? Start with a large fortune.”. The early results are showing that they are shedding large numbers of customers in some geographical areas. Whether this is a blip remains to be seen. A marketing mistake ala Burger King’s “Herb” ads in the mid-1980’s did a lot of damage to their product as Burger King’s sales fell by 40% in the 3 month “Herb” ad campaign.
1 What matters is whether this particular transwoman will influence people to QUIT buying your product
2 You might QUIT buying a product because you do NOT identify with the model
3 Of ALL the people In The World, that would Ever drink Bud Light (it was my favorite beer), how many are going to be upset at "hateful clods railing against Trannies" ? i KNOW what side i'm on
4 i did
5 i won't
It is probably impolite to ask if Mulvane has had his meat and 2 veg removed.
I understand that but can't for the life of me understand why it is impolite.
I was thinking of this last night watching a clip from an Arkansas House hearing of a couple weeks ago.
The transvestite witness was asked if he still had his genitalia. He not refused to answer but got very self-righteous.
Seems like asking someone if they are walking the walk or just talking the talk is a legitimate question.
Isn't it?
John Henry
AA said: "Don't like it? Don't drink! Or drink yourself into oblivion. But don't be an asshole. Why are you picking on Dylan Mulvaney? Do you think it makes you look like a man?"
You're missing the point. I am not picking on Mulvaney. I am against the movement. First it was HR departments being invaded by the wokesters, now it's the marketing departments. I keep score, I vote with my wallet. The divide in this country is widening. I am a willing participant in this fight.
Let me add, having watched many interviews with Riley Gaines and watched the Mulvaney video, I can tell you without a doubt whose side I am on. To some of us, it's crystal clear.
According to Don Surber, Bud Light is now called tyranny fluid in West Virginia.
John Henry
Well, I'm reminded of the Gillette toxic masculinity ads. Those were directly insulting to their core customers. This isn't as bad as that, but it is still an odd choice.
The Bud Light King ads with the “Dilly dilly” catch phrase in the late 20-teens were pretty funny. Seems like advertising should stick in your mind with a somewhat positive message - or at least be memorable. Around that timeframe I was at a sales kickoff dinner with about 35 people from our company in attendance. The district manager gave a 5 minute motivational speech to kick off dinner. At the conclusion of his message, probably half the folks at the dinner raised their glass and said “dilly dilly”. Likely former frat members.
I suppose Mulvane could really be sincere.
But he does have a BA in theater and has spent the past 5-6 years working as an actor. (not actress)
Being represented by CAA does not hurt either.
John Henry
The interview with the marketing director is really worse than the choice of Mulvaney as an influencer. She is so ready to insult the existing customers, so ready to think they'll never hear her insults, never resent them, and never switch. How could she ever have been chosen? Why is she still employed?
Look for emotions rather than logic. Marketing must follow the market to succeed:
* Coca Cola -> New Coke -> Classic Coke -> Old Formula Coca Cola
This happened even though many people couldn't tell them apart or preferred New Coke with a blind test.
* Schiltz Beer: One-time market leader cheapened its formula and faded away
https://www.wideopencountry.com/whatever-happened-to-schlitz-beer/
With Bud Light I think there's a 90% chance of slow corporate backpedaling and a 50% of a rapid apology/firing. Emotions rule, not logic.
Althouse writes, "Why are you picking on Dylan Mulvaney? Do you think it makes you look like a man?"
Ah, yes... the feminist's weapon of last resort whipped out like Dirty Harry's .44 magnum. Bit early for a last resort weapon, don't you think, Althouse? Could it be feminist fragility rearing its head?
How could a gender-affirming person know what a man looks like? If it says it's a man, it's a man, that's the dogma, is it not?
The critics of Dyla Mulvaney don't adhere to the dogma. They don't believe looking like a man is sufficient to be a man, modern surgical technique being what it is. And looking like a woman is likewise insufficient to be a woman. Isn't it amazing that the generation that lauded authenticity as a cardinal virtue (Don't eat that, it's artificial! Eat this instead, it's natural.) could so easily be rolled, contradicting their founding principles in their effort to remain forever young, hip, and with it?
A tempest in a beer can... clever. But the culture war consists of skirmishes as well as battles, and this is a skirmish the Good Guys will win.
Oh brother.
The boycott against a woke Bud Light isn't about Mulvaney. It’s a revolt against the larger and ubiquitous campaign to normalize transgenderism, introducing men into safe spaces occupied by our wives, mothers, daughters and sisters, threats of violence and actual violence against those of us who refuse to bend the knee and the not-so -subtle effort to indoctrinate children into their world of genderpalooza.
I don’t think it is tempest in a teapot when fathers of daughters (like me) protect them from boys in the locker rooms and unfair athletic events due to a fad.
Remember when Nike made that controversial ad with Colin Kapernick saying, "Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything"?
Maybe Nike should make the same ad only with Alissa Heinerscheid.
Hey, what's the Dali Llama doing next? Maybe a Bud Light contract is just what he needs right now.
Don't like it? Don't drink! Or drink yourself into oblivion. But don't be an asshole. Why are you picking on Dylan Mulvaney? Do you think it makes you look like a man?
Well... We aren't drinking it, so thanks. But who is the asshole here? Why are you picking on the millions of people who don't want to be associated with this particular type of mental illness? What do you think that makes you look like?
You know what makes marketing success? If you know something about the market you're selling to. This busy ditch just set back the brand decades.
Proving again that only an academic can twist logic into a pretzel and ignore plain reality to justify the concept that opposing the ludicrous choice of a spokesperson is somehow illogical. The Bud Manager basically dismissed her main consumer base as “ dying off” in her rant and her silly “ inclusivity” goal to expand share falls flat when you simply ask - is the size of your new share large enough to even fill a percent of the loss in sales you are causing by your actions? She’s so smart she’s frankly stupid in her job - a degree from a posh school doesn’t mean you have the skill set to run a business.
The objection to Dylan is because he’s fake - he’s just doing a grift and everyone knows it. And him trying to sell the canned Urine called Bud Light is just a fake person selling fake beer, no more. Sure we can ignore it, but it doesn’t mean we can’t view it equally with scorn as more more TikTok grifter conning the rubes.
point 1 - the point of advertising is to associate the product with certain traits that the potential consumer approves of. Whether or not the traits are actually inherent in the product is immaterial. Sexy women are in beer commercials because most men (the actual consumers of the vast majority of crappy beer such as Bud Light) are attracted to them and getting consumers to associate Bud Light with sexy women will influence them to buy the beer. That is also why beer commercials often show people outdoors camping or fishing, because they are considered manly activities, therefore drinking the beer is a manly activity. None of this is rational, but that's the way it is
point 2 - addressed in point 1
point 3 - I don't know that I would call the drop off in sales a boycott. Bud Light got associated with being trans. The vast majority of men who buy crappy mass produced beer don't see trans as something they want to associate with. They find this Dylan guy off-putting and creepy. Therefore they associate Bud Light with those feelings. So they don't buy it.
point 4 - You are absolutely correct. If you are drinking light beer you're halfway transitioned already
point 5 - Who is picking on Dylan Mulvaney? People are simply deciding not to drink a crappy beer for irrational reasons, just like they were choosing to drink it for irrational reasons.
After a couple of days to think about it I have come to the conclusion that the ad exec was in an unwinnable situation. Old people drink way more beer than younger people, and the young people who drink beer usually have much more sophisticated palates than older beer drinkers. Bud Light and other mass produced beers like it (I'm looking at you Coors and Miller) could only have survived in an era when better alternatives did not exist. The people who drink it now either do so because they grew up with it so they think that's how beer is supposed to taste or because most of their friends drink it. The exec was tasked with expanding the consumer base, which due to demographic trends pretty much impossible. Once again, younger people are not drinking beer and if they are they are most likely drinking craft beers. You're not going to convince them to drink Bud Light, and you're not going to convince Mulvaney's followers to drink it either. But, you can at least look like you are doing something and burnish up your woke credentials.
"But don't be an asshole. Why are you picking on Dylan Mulvaney? Do you think it makes you look like a man?"
Admittedly, I don't do much social media, but the reactions (boycotts, Kidd Rock's target practice, etc.) I have seen have been aimed (literally in the case of Rock) at A-B, not Mulvany. Being upset with A-B for being so clueless as to who their own customer is, is not the same thing as being an asshole to Mulvany.
As for your very out of touch comment, "who drinks light beer anyway?" Everyone. Globally light beer sales generated $289 Billion dollars or roughly 50% of all global beer sales.
By the way, your fancy craft brewers own the largest share of those light beer sales. In the last five years or so, the people who tried to trick us all into thinking super hoppy IPAs were not crap got with the program and started making beer people actually like.
AB wanted to be more “inclusive” so they basically come up with a campaign that says “fuck you” to those “bratty” frat boy types ? I don’t think inclusive means what they think it means.
Whatever, it’s shit beer anyway.
I don’t think the pushback is all “hateful clods” as the professor referenced in item 3. I’d chalk it up to a failure of “marketing 101” and not knowing your product and it’s audience/market.
Dilly Dilly!
Imagine a beer company ran ads after George Floyd saying, "All lives matter." Hardly a controversial statement. Any rational person, like Ann, could then write a post like the above.
But, of course, people aren't rational. Many had convinced themselves that "all lives matter" diminished the importance of black lives and thus was racist and awful. Lots of people today have convinced themselves that having a trans spokesperson means that the company agrees with all the positions of trans organizations, e.g., that anyone of whatever age who says, "I'm trans" should immediately be put on hormones or puberty blockers and put on the road to surgery.
The company could try to defuse that criticism by saying, "Oh, we don't agree with that (in the nicest possible way of course)" but then they would be accused of being "anti-trans" and the people who would say that have pretty big megaphones.
"Since when is the model used in a beer ad representative of the people who drink the beer?" Since forever? When hasn't it? Let's look at the early less filling taste great Miller Lite ads. They were targeting middle age or older male beer drinkers, that struggled with their waistline. So they got a bunch of those type of celebrities and put them in their ads.
"What matters is whether this particular transwoman will influence more people to buy the product." LOL, do you think that's what solely matters? I mean you could have a racist spokesperson come on and say "Bud Lite, the beer for those that hate n######" and you might get a few Klan members to buy it. You think that would exceed the amount of people that then wouldn't?" This is all bullshit. This won't help Bud Lite to expand their market.
"Who drinks light beer anyway? Light beer ads have always struggled to prove their masculinity. But isn't that old fashioned? Isn't it "out-of-touch"? I don't watch ads, so I'm sure I've missed a lot, but I remember ads that were premised on anxiety that light beer isn't manly enough. The Dylan Mulvaney ad essentially says: We don't worry about that anymore. We can be whatever we want. Relax. Have fun. Have a drink. And isn't that what beer ought to say? "
You say that you don't watch ads, but that Light beer ads have always struggled to prove their masculinity. Did you read a book on the history of Lite beer ads? And can you name the ads that "that were premised on anxiety that light beer isn't manly enough."
"Why are you picking on Dylan Mulvaney?" I don't think many are picking on Dylan Mulvaney. They're picking on Bud Lite for they're idiocy. But what's the problem with picking on him? He's a public figure. He intentionally puts himself out there to be examined and judged. Why is he off limits Althouse?
I used the search phrase "craft beer bar menu" in duckduckgo and this is where the first link took me.
https://worldofbeer.com/beer/
I'm going to take a wild guess, they probably don't have Bud Light for sale there.
I think you are missing a bigger point. Brands are like personalities. A Bud/Bud Light Drinker is a different person from a Stella Artois drinker. Bud Light does Military support, rock concerts, sporting events, and local, neighborhood watering holes. In the past they used sports figures, funny commercials, and buxom female models.
When you expand a brand, you grow it at its edges(per that Marketing MBA class I took). Dylan is the exact opposite of that demographic. Dylan is in a different room, down the hall, in a different state.
To get away from Frat boy, they could have expanded to sponsor women's sporting events (which they do a bit of), have WNBA spokesperson, feature female musicians, female outdoor guides, female military personnel, health gurus (light beer, less calories), new sports like Tennis, Rugby, Lacrosse, Golf.
You need to know the group who is your base, and expand that base. Alissa did not do that, she went full 180. It never works. She insulted the base and should have known better.
You are looking at it from the visual, since you are a photographer, not from the brand personality side.
The push back although triggered by the use of a transgender person, is less about masculinity and more about the perceived politicization of media including advertisements (actual or perceived). Support for transgender rights is mostly vocalized by those on the left; to someone running a bar in this case, this provides another example of the left pushing their agenda on consumers.
People on the left will conclude the people irritated by the advertisements are ignorant bigots or fixated on their masculinity.
I imagine the companies that craft these ads are well aware of this dynamic and are primarily interested in a potential uptick in sales or perhaps brand loyalty formed by the crashing waves of anger.
BTW can’t wait to see how this gets ratioed. Probably more so than the last tone deaf post that was called out against a normally intelligent person.
Back to the subject, that thing doesn’t just identify as transgender but as a little girl. Last time I checked 21 is the legal requirement to purchase or consume alcohol. Who is InBev marketing to? It’s not just inappropriate it can be considered criminal.
And no, I don’t drink light beer but for people with weight problems I get it. Normal beer has a lot of worthless calories.
Clydesdales pulling beer wagons or fire pumpers with some Patriotic music in a small town holiday parade with a local beauty queen waving...
the backlash is going to hurt. really hurt.
fire her now. both of them
Ann:
In your comments, you indicate the outrage is about Dylan Mulvaney. Is it?
Is the outrage about the individual, or about the current force majeure of transsexuality's celebration - not just acceptance - within all aspects of society - education, politics, media, entertainment, and now beer.
Is the outrage that at a society level in the U.S. we are being told it is not enough to accept the individual, even if you disagree with their thinking as healthy, you must agree with their thinking as healthy and celebrate the individual.
Is the outrage at Bud Light's participation in this movement?
I have no issue with Dylan M. - this is another person in the long history of entertainment who has found a niche at the borders of norms and has turned that into fame and fortune. Not the first, not the last.
But the people who drink Bud Light appear to not want their beer's icon to be a cause celebre.
"You might buy a product because you identify with the model in the ad, but you might buy it because you're attracted to the model — a skinny beautiful woman might make a fat man like the product..."
Tsk,tsk...double fat-shaming. Anyway, if that's the idea, why not use an actual skinny beautiful woman? Believe it or not, there are still a few around.
A safe beer no more. I used to travel a lot. Bud Light was a safe beer to order when walking into a strange dive. If I didn't like the place, I could leave and it cost me little. If I liked the place, I would order a better beer on the second round.
Another question to ponder:
6. Why do people on the left insist on politicizing EVERYTHING? Can't a person just enjoy a beer without being TOLD: i) what the "correct" views are regarding a touch political topic by your beer company; and, ii) that your views are "incorrect"? Given the constant bombardment by the left in the culture war, is it really so hard to understand why ordinary people are rebelling?
is this play on word 'Bud' as inclusive?
Mzzz Heinerscheid could have formulated beer-sprtizer combo [eliminate Bud-Light from product line-up and add some fizz drink to ''mix into'' [= inclusive] regular Bud-beer to lighten]
[A spritzer is a drink made of wine and soda water. Spritzers originated in Austria in the 19th century as a way to make bubbly wine. The name comes from the German word “spritzen” or “to spray”: referring to diluting wine with water. Spritzers dilute the wine by 25% or 50%, and they’re especially popular in the summertime in Europe!]
"it's like making love in a canoe..."
That's spelled B-U-D L-I-G-H-T.
If you have to hate on somebody in 2023, you can only use Biff and the Alpha Betas. You could make a movie on the subject, I bet. Some revenge, eh?
Like or not, the message from the ad campaign is this- drinking Bud Light will turn you into Dylan Mulvaney.
I promise you this- that is a message that fails as a product ad for a line of beer- especially a blue collar kind like Budweiser. This isn't jackassery talking- this is common fucking sense.
“Why are you picking on Dylan Mulvaney? Do you think it makes you look like a man?”
Well, yes. Because he has made his career attacking and demeaning women. And, it is manly to protect women from men.
It’s a bad marketing move because she (Bud Light vice president of marketing Alissa Heinersch) has forgotten Rule #1 of Marketing: Know your target market. Regular Bud has long been a working class beer. Bud Light has long flown under the radar as an adjunct to regular Bud beer, without a significant identity of its own. It now has one - the beer of transsexuals, and, in particular of trans (fake) women. Guys don’t care as much about trans men, because they are not considered serious competition. Trans women, on the other hand, were loser guys, who are invading their female’s places and taking them away from their real women.
Theoretically, if done more subtilely, the Bud Light brand was open for being branded as belonging to a specific demographic, such as the Trans community. Except that this wasn’t subtle, and the trans community is reviled by much of the working class. Not because of what they are, but more by what they represent: the elites in this country forcing us to accept what many believe to be sexual deviancy. The anger grows with each move made by the leftist elites shoving this down our throats, with every tool available through their ill gained power. The illegitimately elected FJB Administration is now trying to force accepting males in female sports and restrooms through civil rights laws. They want to protect their women from this encroachment, and are being told “shut up and submit to your rulers”. About the only weapon that the working class has, is the boycott. Voting with their feet. Bud Light is effectively dead now. Sacrificed to the dictates of Wokedom. But the bigger problem for her employer is the damage done to their flagship brand, regular Bud beer, and to some lesser extent to their other brands, like Michelob, O’Dowell’s (which my partner prefers to its Coors equivalent), etc. Compounding this is that Wokesters are unlikely to step in and make up the loss in sales to the working class, because one of their badges of status is their preference for craft beers and the like.
Frat-shaming.
Since when is the model used in a beer ad representative of the people who drink the beer?
This is a good point, one I've considered as I watch companies seemingly going out of their way to lose my business. "This model must work, or they wouldn't use it," I figure.
Don't like it? Don't drink! Or drink yourself into oblivion. But don't be an asshole. Why are you picking on Dylan Mulvaney? Do you think it makes you look like a man?
This is not a good point. The target isn't any individual, it's the powers behind the relentless mocking and provocation, the ones that say 'We can either piss off you or risk the wrath of these groups. They scare us. You don't.'
If blackface is unacceptable, why is womanface acceptable? And Dylan Mulvaney is a parody of a young girl, not even a woman. I know some real women who find his schtick insulting.
This is not about humor. This is about taking sides in a culture war. Bud chose its side.
Beer drinkers are mostly choosing the other side. I don't drink beer, so I don't have to choose. It is a war that was declared by the Trans lobby and other progressives. Don't be shocked when people fight back. There is really no choice if we want to be left alone to live in accordance with our values. We are under assault from the federal government and blue state governments for those who live in blue states (I do). Many of us are under assault in our workplaces. We will fight wherever we can and companies like Budweiser will learn this the hard way.
Meh. I'll just stick with my Wild Turkey on the rocks.
I just saw a video where large numbers of cases of Bud Light were being crushed by what looked to me like a piece of equipment used to smooth blacktop when it is spread on a road or parking lot. So, apparently there is a big backlash.
The Dylan Mulvaney ad essentially says: We don't worry about that anymore. We can be whatever we want. Relax. Have fun. Have a drink. And isn't that what beer ought to say?
It's a for-profit company. There are some meaningful cultural associations around Budweiser ads (the frogs, "Freedom"), but really, we're just talking about an everyday alcoholic beverage, with a slight blue collar appeal (vs, say, sherry, which is for grandmothers and vicars).
We'll have to see what sales do. If their market share stabilises higher than they were pre-campaign, then it worked out well for them and was a good bet. If it stabilises lower (i.e. even after people get bored of a momentary boycott), then it was a bad bet and they shouldn't do it again.
Right now, I'm guessing it was a bad bet, though not catastrophic. I don't drink beer more than a couple times a year, if that, so my grasp of the market is pretty limited . . but my image of Budweiser is basically a generic, fungible, inexpensive beer that makes its sales on price and availability, with advertising/branding at most providing a small short-term pop when they come up with something clever or memorable. If this goes badly and they decide to double down on hiring more transvestites to promote their light beer, then that would be more of a problem, but if they reverse course then I don't think anyone will remember this after a month or two.
Because people who object to the sort of culture being promoted by the likes of Dylan Mulvaney are self-evidently "hateful clods"? This seems like a bit of an oversimplification. People respond to advertising because something about it resonates with and reinforces their own self image. Dylan Mulvaney utterly fails at this where Bud Light's customer base is concerned. The sort of people who consider Bud Light drinkers to be hateful clods are also very unlikely to become Bud Light drinkers. It is beer for fat men, but less so now than before this bit of influencer marketing.
I don't watch ads, so I'm sure I've missed a lot
You sure have! Sometimes watching ads provides a window into where the influential wish to steer our culture. Millennia from now, when the Pentaxians from the Andromeda galaxy finally get around to an archeological study of our planet, here's what they might conclude from the discovery of the digital archives of North American ads from this time period:
- Half the population was homosexual.
- Three fourths of the population was black or Hispanic.
- At least half of all marriages were interracial.
- The obese with two X chromosomes were revered for their beauty and vitality. The others, not so much.
- And most white men were particularly stupid and ill equipped to deal with daily life.
- The summary: These training videos for their young were well produced, but obtuse as well as pointless and it's little wonder there was no one left to meet us.
So the humor is no longer 'fratty' or 'out-of-touch', but is it FUNNY?
Not seeing any info on how the marketing campaign was developed. I would think they did some testing of different messages with consumers, distributors, and retailers and got feedback. Based on their surprise at the response, maybe it was just a top down decision. Or they had the feedback and didn’t care.
People are talking about Bud Light, which I assume is the purpose of any ad campaign. I don't care for A-Bud products to begin with and I rarely make a purchasing decision on anything other than the quality and price of a product.
I'm no marketing genius with a degree from Wharton, but always understood that successfully repositioning a brand required the art of luring new customers without alienating the current ones.
Honestly, I struggle to understand her logic in dissing the demographic which is providing the bulk of today's profits.
I'm amazed at arrogance of this woman. Who is she to decide what is "Out of touch"? And the dishonesty annoys me too. Let me translate what she's really saying:
"I was really annoyed that our commericals were directed at young - mostly white - men. And tried to appeal to them to drink more beer. So, Icky. Imagine it: white, male, and Conservative. SO, I put in all the tranny stuff, as a big "fuck You" to them. And to show them who's boss. And the stupid morons, will drink bud light anyway, so its a win win".
This has gotten the typical conservative loser response. "Go woke, Go broke". Except, the massive foreign conglomerate that owns Bud light, isn't going broke and never go broke. Its too big and diversified. Bud in only a small percentage of their business.
In any case, the "Go woke, Go broke" is a just conservative cope. Because they have zero desire to organize and fight back. Spouting this "Smart take", allows them to feel superior and do nothing. Of course, its a loser, but conservatives love to lose.
Marketing is completely objective. The only standard is if volume was up after the ad run. So, obviously this was a bad ad campaign. There is no other standard, assuming that your goal is to make money.
So, knowing what happened to Gillette, the goal of the Bud Light brand is not to make money, rather to create political value. The lost profits are a donation to a cause. I can't believe that these professionals are oblivious, they are well trained.
"What matters is whether this particular transwoman will influence more people to buy the product."
Funny. I'd have thought that provoking existing customers to boycott the product might matter.
"... hateful clods railing against them, you know you're on the other side." "But don't be an asshole. Why are you picking on Dylan Mulvaney? Do you think it makes you look like a man?"
Krikey, Althouse! Where do you come up with this bullshit? Nobody gives a damn about Dylan Mulvaney. He's just pitiful.
Where you and Bud get it wrong is that the objection is to promoting a movement that endorses mutilating and sexualizing children, victimizing women and making a mockery of science. How can you, or anybody, not see that?
"Why are you picking on Dylan Mulvaney? Do you think it makes you look like a man?"
JFC. People are picking on Anheuser Busch, you dolt. Most could give a shit what Dylan Mulvaney does.
DM has arranged to make himself a central piece of the Biden/Demo plan to undermine manhood. If you can't see that, you're not paying attention. If you're OK with the campaign, shame on you.
What does it mean, to "pick on" a nearbeer-pushing attention whore? The creature Mulvaney has put itself out for profit and fame, and being satirized and mocked is not being "picked on."
"Picked on" would be some lady normie tiring of its schtick and punching it in the pie hole.
So you have acknowledged that this is an ad campaign?
I don’t think it’s clever to try to shame men for their reaction to it. You listed the various ways that ads can appeal to customers and this one fails on all counts. Men do not identify with a skinny young guy cosplaying as a Barbie doll and they are certainly not attracted to this person (more like repulsed.)
If you consider women as potential customers, as I assume may have been the point, then you’re probably relying mainly on #3 and the probability that some females will rally to support this brand to oppose the “hateful clods.” Not that they are being hateful toward fratty guys though, of course.
And lost in all of this analysis is why more women aren’t reacting to this character with revulsion. That’s certainly my take on a male who mocks femininity in this way (not to mention the blurring of age and sexuality with the “girl” schtick”) Blech, count me, a middle aged woman, with the hateful clods I guess.
Let's not be too quick to defend Dylan Mulvaney. Mulvaney's income is dependent on being the centre of controversy while appearing to have fun with it. No controversy, no money.
Heinerscheid doesn't seem very good at her job. On paper, tapping a new audience seems like a good thing even if that audience is small. But the internet is for everyone and people talk to each other. Denigrating one market to chase another only works if either the second market is bigger (not the case here) or the first market doesn't know what's going on (also not the case here).
And for what? So that a handful of people who drink craft beer (or just do drugs) can feel better about a beer that they still aren't going to drink?
For all of us beer drinking "normies" we're just sick of this shit. Rainbow NHL jerseys and rainbow stick tape. It's constant. Now it feels like a Chinese water torture. Then they hit beer and throw insults at "frat" culture? Faaack you!
I think Candice Owens summed it up best regarding "why aren't transgender men being promoted like transgender women"? Owens simply said, "because men won't put up with this shit and have their spaces invaded like women will".
They just let some transgender women into one of the top ballet academies, and he or she or whatever...sux. It comedy. So is Dylan Mulvaney. His dance in the Nike sports bra in HILARIUS. Go watch it. You can't help but laugh. They guy is talented.
Why don't all ya'll just drink Whiteclaw and leave the beer chugging to the alpha-males?
Bottom line is dudes are going to sit around and drink beer from a rainbow can. This is reaching the point of peak stupidity. Maybe that's what will make it tone down a bit.
Leave Dylan alone!
This clown deserves being ignored. It’s easy to do. Let them - woke marketeers - do their worst and watch them fail.
The bar owner, who sells beer to his customers, certainly has a view about all this. My impression is that he is against it. I wonder what he knows?
I think "influencer culture" takes the discussion away from your chosen lens (Dylan Mulvaney-as-model). Bud Light did not produce an advertisement with a spokesmodel, so much as they gave product (and most assuredly, money) to a content creator.
I am presuming Bud Light did not write ad copy for the "March Madness"-adjacent video, and that all of the content came from Mulvaney.
If Mulvaney were a model, or if she were being employed as an actress for an ad, that would be one thing. It is precisely because her "girlhood" message is supposed to be taken seriously (while simultaneously condescending to the group with which Mulvaney self-identifies...because women can't know anything about sports, right?) that it strikes a false chord with so many people.
Not a beer drinker - light or otherwise - so I'm not in the market for this "boycott."
Speaking of which, doesn't a boycott require coordination? Is there an actual organization telling consumers not to buy the product, or are people so turned off by this particular influencer campaign that they do not want to themselves be associated with the product?
Who drinks light beer anyway. Well the vast majority of beer drinkers from what I see. Bud light was the number one brand of Anheiser Busch, so they put it in the hands of a woke marketing person who probably feels like yourself, who drinks light beer anyway, doesn't everyone drink seltzers and wine coolers?
Those of us who are critical of this ad are calling out the mainstream culture for celebrating a man who has been pretending to be a woman by adopting sterotypical feminine mannerisms for a whole year. Did they ever think of celebrating real women with real achievements? Riley Gaines perhaps?
Update:
According to his agent, the Dali Llama has reportedly turned down Alissa Heinerscheid's ad campaign proposal in which the holy man was to be shown with a child on his lap saying, "Relax. Have fun. Have a drink."
In response to the idea, the Llama is reported to have said, "Bud Light? Naw, man. That shit gives me a whanging headache every time."
To quote Mr. Spock, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one." Actually a very liberal concept turned on its head by a tyrannical minority. James Madison wrote about this in the federalist papers.
To quote Mr. Spock, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one." Actually a very liberal concept turned on its head by a tyrannical minority. James Madison wrote about this in the federalist papers.
What, she didn't test the ad with actual fratty and out-of-touch Bud Light drinkers? To take this stodgy brand into such new and contentious territory is a big risk.
Some people are getting close to calling Bud Light drinkers deplorable transphobes, but they have achieved a certain comfort level with the product that they buy regularly. It's Marketing 101 not to mess with, or crap on, your primary audience. She's a dope and deserves to be fired. So do her bosses who, no doubt, approved the ad.
I’ve never bought a six-pack or cracked open a can or bottle, so my desired outcome of all of this nonsense is:
1. the freak show stays a freak show
2. the campaign runs its course
3. treating mental illness as cute, adorable and humorous is recognized for what it is
4. an occasional IPA will be enjoyed by discerning drinkers
5. the subject becomes so unimportant that people totally run out of fucks to give
I've read Althouse's five points several times now. I gather that her main point (or one of them) is that the people reacting negatively to Bud Light's transgendered marketing approach are hateful, unmanly bigots.
To which I say:
1. No, people just don't like having the mental illness that is transgenderism crammed down their throats.
2. It looks like Althouse has picked up her trusty shovel. How long and how deep will she dig?
It baffles me that you seem to have missed that a "social media influencer" can influence both ways. That Mulvaney's videos about drinking Bud-Lite have gone viral is the job of being an influencer. It's been a roaring success. It's just that the market for Bud-Lite isn't responding in a positive way. "Manly men" don't want their friends to lump them in with Mulvaney, and while a big portion of Bud-Lite's market is women, a large percentage of women find Mulvaney's schtick insulting. The marketing director says she was trying to tap into a new market. What market was that? The young people who drink craft beer? The suburban women who drink wine? Just who was she trying to reach with Mulvaney as a spokesperson, and was it a big enough market to risk losing their longtime base?
I don't get it. Simple physics tells us that you aim for center mass, whether it's artillery or marketing. Why do these Woke geniuses think they need to start by alienating their existing customer base, and only then trying to win new customers --among a demographic that, excuse me, is much more fond of umbrella drinks than beer?
Shaking my head.
One thing that people may miss, if that while Bud Light sales might have been declining, it was still the number one selling beer in the U.S. And Budweiser is the number one beer brand worldwide.
So this is an interesting story, without regard to whether some of the boycotters are cro-magnon asshole types who still think there is something twisted and maybe morally wrong (instead of progressively enlightened) about surgeons chemically castrating and lopping off the breasts of physically healthy 15 year old girls.
I tend to agree with you on your more liberal leaning posts. And while these ads have no affect on my choice of what beer I drink (I dislike Bud, Miller and Coors light beers) I think Anheuser-Busch has made a mistake because they have decided it’s more important to make a political statement over simply selling beer. The frat mentality they had is fairly mundane and does not necessarily take a political side. But this campaign is a beer company standing up and making a decision on what they know is a controversial divisive subject that not many companies would touch. So bravo for being progressive but from a corporate money making standpoint it’s probably not the best move.
The irony perhaps is that while Bud Light may be hurt by this, Budweiser will probably maintain steady sales.
Many men I know drink light beer. You can drink more of them as they have less alcohol and they taste better when cold, as opposed to other brews. I went through my IPA stage but now I usually get something lighter. Also, Bud Light had been marketing to Black men for the last decade, never saw that humor as "Fratty".
Dave Chappelle was right, step aside black men cuz a white fake woman is coming on through and you must yield!!
Beer ads have traditionally been aimed at men through humor, sports stuff, admired stars, Americana - stuff men like. Hell, dogs have sold a lot of beer, so if this guy's act can make money, it'll open a whole new avenue of opportunities. If not, it won't.
Lefties solve every problem by making it worse.
It's a culture war - foisted upon us by people who don't like what I value. When a corporation takes sides, and when that side tries to berate and shame me for my values, I choose a side too. It has nothing to do with my manliness. I also don't like cheap shots and implications that people who make choices for their own individual reasons have to be lumped into a caricature of some oafish bigot. Just the mirror image of the college educate white woman smear.
I don't boycott products because of the individual's or company's politics, but I can understand why some people do. It will be interesting to see how these boycotts play out. I live in a rural, conservative, Republican part of my state. In my county there is only one elected Democrat, and she's a Democrat just because her father was. By far and away, Busch Natural Light is the favorite beer here among farmers and working class people, probably because it is so cheap. People buy it by the 30 count case everywhere, from grocery stores to convenience stores. Will they boycott their beloved "Natty Light" because it is manufactured by Anheuser Busch? Or will they still drink it because at least it isn't Bud Light?
"It's not a question of who the model is but whether the model will influence consumers to buy the product. No one really cares about the various traits of the consumer. It doesn't matter that only "a fraction of 1%" of viewers of the ad are transwomen. What matters is whether this particular transwoman will influence more people to buy the product."
Honestly can't tell whether you're arguing for or against the Woke Bud approach.
The fracas isn't really about the trannie. It's about the fact that an intelligent 8-year old could have told you this wasn't a sound business decision.
Bud Light is the best-selling beer in America, with a 17% market share. That's not likely to change significantly, but it's fun to be angry about things.
Drink the Troonshine, you bigots.
5. Don't like it? Don't drink! Or drink yourself into oblivion. But don't be an asshole. Why are you picking on Dylan Mulvaney? Do you think it makes you look like a man?
Remember Rachel Dolezall?
Here is what you said at the time:
As for trans-racialism, I think, to some extent, people do choose which race to identify with. It is, to some extent, a matter of personal expression and the general social convention is to allow people to simply say what race they are and not to question it. At what point is it ethically wrong? Presumably, it has something to do with whether you've taken some benefit that was designated for others, especially if that's the only reason you've chosen this identification.
Emphasis added.
Rachel was hounded out of polite society by the very same group of people who are lauding ersatz-women. As has nearly everyone else (except for all the progressives) who has donned black face — it is a capital social crime, even when not accompanied by minstrelsy.
Dylan Mulvaney is doing girl face, with every bit of minstrelsy that could possibly be imagined.
The question you need to be asking is why black face is so shunned, while girl-face is lauded. Especially considering the myriad of instances where an ersatz-woman has gained a benefit designed for women.
Bud Light has made itself a very specific target for the resentment that people justifiably feel for having this poseur nonsense shoved in our faces with a very sinister undertone of shut up and like it, you bigots."
An addendum to my earlier comment about Alissa Heinerscheid and her decision to use Dylan Mulvaney in Bud Light marketing:
The problem with DIE dogma regarding inclusivity is when the woke mob invokes this, they are excluding others. In Bud Light’s case, a much larger group of others than what Alissa wants to bring in appears to be the case. If this turns out to be the case, in a normal world where basic capitalism is at work and Anheuser-Busch loses a significant market share in an already shrinking market industry-wide, Alissa and her hand-picked crew would be fired for costing the company and stock share-holders a lot of money. In this day and age, she will probably survive to come up with other woke hare-brained ideas that will make Bud Light just another niche brand in the A-B stable of beers. And, Alissa will be rewarded in this perverse world instead of being told to hit the pavement and don’t let the door hit her in the rear-end as she leaves A-B’s corporate headquarters the last time.
And if Bud Light’s sales crater with this marketing campaign, Alissa would have achieved what Miller and Coors have failed to do with their product and marketing, making Bud Light “equitable” with Miller Lite and Coors Light….Hey, getting two out of the three of the DIE dogma achieved ain’t bad!
Bud Lite is working on a new bikini calendar. It's going to be nuts.
H/T Feral Irishman
John Henry
Why are you so concerned about the ineffectiveness of a swill-company's advertising? Are you worried about the reception the latest ads from Hamm's are getting? Have you been following the new Heineken campaign? It sure looks like you believe something else is being sold here, besides alcohol-contaminated water. And it's apparently something you really want people to buy. What could it be?
yawn
"2. You might buy a product because you identify with the model in the ad, but you might buy it because you're attracted to the model "
That's the problem, isn't it? What percentage of the Bud light drinkers are attracted to a man dressed as a woman?
How could Budweiser executives not know this would happen?
Why are you picking on Dylan Mulvaney? Do you think it makes you look like a man?
Picking-on? Isn't the question really about why do we celebrate mental illness?? Holding this individual up as some king of role model??
Why do we want to validate gender mutilation?
Althouse said...4. Who drinks light beer anyway?
People who want to get wasted and drink all night drink light beer. Frat guys. White men on deer hunting and fishing trips in Wisconsin. You can down a twelve pack, and just piss the shit right out. When it's cold and crisp is good. Tastes great...less filling. It lines up with the other pilsner macro-brews like Pabst, Schlitz, Old Style...etc.
Best was in college in the 90's when they came out with "Ice Beer". We used to call Ice House "Crack House" because the shit got you wasted because they skimmed the water out of it and the alcohol content was higher.
Althouse also said...5. Don't like it? Don't drink! Or drink yourself into oblivion. But don't be an asshole. Why are you picking on Dylan Mulvaney? Do you think it makes you look like a man?
Seems Bud Lite is the one getting picked on here. I don't see Hank Hill and his friends standing out of the parkway with a cooler drinking beer from a rainbow can. I drink Miller Lite. Always loyal to the great Milwaukee macro-brews.
What does a "man" look like to a feminist. Starting to think we are nothing more than a necessary evil so the ditches can be dug. Feminists are successfully destroying masculinity. Someday it will be missed. But they are also destroying their own spaces they spent decades trying to create.
Perhaps to a feminist intellectual the invasion of women's sports by women with penises doesn't matter. But to female athletes it does.
I'm starting to like Dylan Mulvaney. He's taking everyone for a ride. The dude's videos are hilarious viewed through a certain lens.
And I've decided in the name of tolerance and diversity from now on I am rooting for whichever competitor in women's sporting events that has a penis. And I'm going to drink myself into oblivion with Miller Lite from a regular can while cheering them on.
Yes, frat boys guzzle lots of Bud Light, but they're pretty willing to switch to Natty Light for any reason. The ironic hipster market segment is much more strongly attached to PBR. So jeopardizing the brand's appeal to frat boys--and many other hetero men who drink shitty beer--to go after hipsters doesn't seem like a well thought-out marketing strategy.
As to Althouse's question about why any Bud Light drinkers would care about this, it seems pretty clear that drinking BL is being framed as an endorsement of the current trans mania. Switching to Miller Lite is a low-cost, an so far apolitical, alternative.
I'm hearing more and more women feeling insulted by Dylan Mulvaney's act. It's a caricature of a woman. He's basically playing a ridiculous little girl.
Welcome to the club! Every time I see a commercial, or a family sit com, the white guy is always portrayed as the out of touch idiot. That too is a made up caricature. How long until liberal feminists are prancing around like Dylan Mulvaney?
They guy is a stitch. He's not transgender. He's a grifter making money. Good for him. I like him.
It's the pain in the ass, woke, Ivy League graduate that Bud hired who is being boycotted. I'd rather drink myself into oblivion in a room full of Dylan Mulvaney's than Alissa Heinerscheids any day. I think most men would.
"Why are you picking on Dylan Mulvaney? Do you think it makes you look like a man?"
I'm not "picking" on this mentally ill man. I'm mocking AB for making such a stupid marketing decision. They will not make up the lost sales caused by their deciding to make a 26 year old man who is pretending to be a pre-teen girl a voice of their company and brand of their product. I'm mocking the media who thinks this is all good and indicative of an "inclusive" society.
I'm not "picking" on Delvany at all. I'm pointing out that he is a man who has decided to pretend he is a pre-teen girl as he mocks girls and women everywhere and thinks he knows how it feels to be either. These trans-crazy guys are putting frozen tomato paste pop-sickles in their orifice to mock a teen girl's first period, complete with pretend stomach cramps. And those who object to the celebration of such mentally ill actions are accused of "picking on Delvany". I give this my "bull-shit" tag! No "civility" required.
Oh, and I'm a woman and have no desire to look or act like a man. I'm not crazy. I'm a woman.
I fervently oppose the teenage mutilation and recent trans violence, but I was horrified by the video of Kid Rock shooting the Bud Light beer cans. It plays into the hands of those claiming that conservatives want violence against trans people.
Nope not taking the bait. The fun is gone. See ya.
I fervently oppose child mutilation and the recent trans mass shootings. But I was horrified by the video of Kid Rock shooting the Bud Light beer cans. It plays into the hands of those who warn of conservative violence toward trans people.
Our country cries out for a non-binary NASCAR driver .
What an odd comment from someone who is revolted by the very season of Summer and bliss of vacation by the sight of men in shorts..
Who is picking on Mulvaney? She's been at this for over a year. Although the shtick predates the "becoming a woman" performance art. So transwoman may be getting what they give, having their identity co-opted like "old fashioned' women are having. That would be hilarious. Like the weight lifter who identified as a woman and broke all the records the transwoman weightlifter had set that were beyond the "old fashioned" women weightlifters. It's all quite pacy.
No on the other hand beer VPs and their companies do deserve all the abuse for their stupid decisions. Bud and Bud Light are all about the marketing. Killing small beers with near free giveaways and such to capture the unthinking and poor taste appreciating sports fans. So this marketing crash may rank up their with New Coke. I sometimes wonder what happened to the guy who said, let's improve sales by making Coke taste like Pepsi and anger our current addicts.
When this trans accommodation started a while ago most people were very respectful and empathetic to the individuals presenting as the opposite gender. Most trans people deserve that empathy. However as time has gone by several trans people, mostly trans women, have crossed a line from expecting empathy to expecting they be given all rights and privileges as their opposite gender. This is not tenable in a fair society. Trans women should not be celebrated and put on a pedestal as if they have achieved things as real women. Doing so mocks and insults and degrades real women. It also exploits the trans women for virtue signaling credit. Bud Light is the culprit in this case, though, not Mulvaney.
They are essentially grooming society to accept more and more deviant behavior. I thought the next turn of the ratchet would be a push for polyamory. But they skipped over that and are grooming our children to become transgender. The next step will be a full court press to normalize pedophilia. Parents who object will be threatened with
CPS taking their children like they are advocating for parents who don't want their kids to be compelled by the school personnel to go transgender. The slippery slope is real.
"hateful clods" = deplorables?
I think certain people are feeling powerless in the face of the onslaught of pro-tran forces in the media, now sports and, in Budweiser's case, the corporate world.
This includes, but is not limited to, the focus and sympathy being on how the Nashville murderer is portrayed and not for the murdered victims, including three children.
Boycotting or destroying Bud-light beer is an attempt to exercise some control. Voting once gave that sense of control, but now those votes appear to be readily nullified.
Althouse, the fact that you are entertained by TikTokkers, including Mulvaney, has no bearing on how others might react to corporate support of the person AND their position.
In this case, Bud Light chose to present that:
a) Mulvaney is now female and had been for 365 days, and
b) this support would increase sales of Bud Light.
The timing, one day after Nike’s campaign featuring a male (with male anatomical features) in a women’s sportswear campaign, didn’t help. Many women drink Bud Light, and many women do not appreciate a biological male pushing women’s clothing.
Beer campaigns are usually lifestyle or mood themed; few see themselves as literal Swedish bikini wearers or frogs. Promoting Mulvaney is targeting a very small but noisy market, with the risk of alienating a significant fraction of the current large customer base. This should be basic marketing- you want to sell to more people unless you see a niche in a underserved market that can be addressed- and the backlash here appears more against the use of Mulvaney, not Mulvaney himself.
And the fact that you are entertained by him does not mean those who are not should be shamed or name-called.
I'm eagerly awaiting Bud Light's next promo can, featuring a young woman who looks like a concentration camp survivor because she's starving herself to death.
Wow.
Jackassery. Hateful clods. Asshole.
Cruelty? Yes. But no neutrality.
'It doesn't matter that only "a fraction of 1%" of viewers of the ad are transwomen. What matters is whether this particular transwoman will influence more people to buy the product.'
Now you're on my turf...marketing and branding.
It matters a metric fuck-ton if your brand representative causes a lot more than 1% to quit the brand.
This is an unforced error.
I haven't been following the employment status of the Bud marketing VP, but this is a firing offense.
Of course, calling the previous advertising (which presumably appealed to a significant percentage of Bud drinkers) "fratty" and "out of touch" seems like a needless insult to the existing Bud drinkers who liked the ads, regardless of the pivot to trans activism.
The number of people who identify with or support Mulvaney who are going to start drinking Bud Light is minimal. The point of the ad campaign was twofold: 1) The company gets participation points from LGBTQ media watchdog organizations, and 2) the ad team wins status among their peers. Neither of those goals had anything to do with selling more beer.
The later remarks that the brand was "fratty" and "out-of-touch" were a continuation of point 2. The whole point of saying that was to send the message that the beer's customers are troglodytes, but the beer's ad people are cutting-edge. Of course the beer's customers are going to be upset at being dissed like that.
Bud Light sales will likely take a hit, but this is still a career boost for the ad people. They'll move on to someplace else that thinks it needs LGBTQ points and a hot new makeover.
So who is being the asshole? The people who keep trying to ram transgenderism is hip, cool and normal down your throat or the people who say no thank you, to me it's perversion and really, really not cool.
$4 Billion Wiped from Anheuser-Busch’s Value amid Bud Light’s Dylan Mulvaney Backlash
you know? Maybe.. Just MAYBE.. The dogs don't like the new dogfood model
I don't usually drink beer, but when I do, I don't drink Budweiser.
Bud Light = Fake beer using fake woman to advertise.
One pub in Hell’s Kitchen, a New York City neighborhood known for its large and vocal gay community, reported that Bud Light draft sales dropped 58% this week, while Bud Light bottle sales were down 70%.
Eighty percent of Bud Light drinkers ordered something else this week, Brewhouse owner Alex Kesaris said — while the 20% who did order Bud Light "weren’t on social media and hadn’t heard yet" about its new transgender pitch person. "They didn’t order it again," he said, after other patrons told them about the Bud Light marketing misfire.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/bud-light-suffers-bloodbath-longtime-loyal-consumers-revolt-transgender-campaign
nothing to see here, folks.. Just move along..
https://www.foxnews.com/media/california-mom-confronts-school-district-11-year-old-changed-genders-knowledge
A newly unearthed interview shows a top Anheuser-Busch official describing the company’s embrace of DEI ideology.
For reasons that Aren't Clear.. It seems to Offend Professor Althouse, if people mention these things.
We are apparently supposed to Shut Up, and accept
"Who drinks light beer anyway?" That's the key question. Light beer was originally developed because regular beer was calorie-dense and full of carbs, and drinking enough to get tipsy would eventually give you a beer belly. (Meanwhile, mainstream brands like Budweiser didn't have much flavor anyway.)
The problem was that choosing a "light" product could be seen as less masculine -- which is why all the early advertising implied that the men who drank it were football-playing babe magnets. (And eventually led to brands like Michelob Ultra, which emphasized the low carb count rather than the "light" aspect.)
But today, there are a lot of alternatives to beverages that basically tasted like beer-flavored fizzy water. If you like good beer, decent craft products are available just about everywhere. If you want an easy-drinking alcoholic beverage and don't care about the flavor, you'll probably choose a hard seltzer. If you're going to overpay for a drink in a bar, you might as well choose a cocktail that took the bartender some effort to prepare.
So the marketers are right -- there's no longer any point in trying to convince average dudes that light beers are masculine, because most of them probably aren't drinking it anyway. Why not try to reach a new audience of, say, "Real Housewives" watchers? In the end, this strategy probably won't work, because it's not a great product to begin with. But the people they could be alienating, by erasing the fiction that light beer is for "manly men," weren't buying it anyway.
Out of touch ... with who?
Kind of sounds like she was out of touch and should be shown the door.
When I see transgender people in ads, I have a negative, visceral reaction. They exist in a different paradigm and I'm not 'wired' to accept their behavior. I respect their humanity, but I'm not inclined to celebrate their psychological impairment.
Wow. Althouse really should have continued to stay out of this one.
5 bullet pointed demonstrations of being completely out of touch...despite living in WI.
Mulvaney and his ilk are a bunch of mentally ill, mutilated freaks. And we're supposed to celebrate and encourage that?
In schools today, teachers are grooming our children, all without knowledge of their parents. And in some places like California, parents are forbidden from finding out what's going on. It's a cult.
And the parents are the villains, and the grooming and sodomizing teachers and administrators are the heroes. That's what happens when Democrats get power.
Mrs. Garrison was right, all the way back in 2005: "This would mean I’m not really a woman. I’m just a guy with a mutilated penis. Boy, do I feel like a jackass!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vRNO07e8uc
Drinking a delicious crispy cold Bud Light as I write this.
Cheers!
But don't be an asshole. Why are you picking on Dylan Mulvaney?
Because Dylan Mulvaney is an asshole. Duh.
Why are you picking on Dylan Mulvaney?
LOL. The trans cries out in pain as it strikes you.
“‘I’m really dumbfounded by why someone would care so much,’ Stern said.”
So, the model doesn't matter, apparently, unless she/he does, but if he/she does then you're likely a "hateful clod". Really?
"mrybill" said...
This is my first post comment in over a decade probably, for various reasons...
I don't drink light beer, so this brew-haha doesn't really affect my life. Regarding this specific model - the persona, to me, seems designed specifically to satirize - make fun of, really - a stereotype of woman (the skinny airhead model). Not sure who thinks this helps the larger cause they are supposedly trying to promote.
I had no intention of boycotting Bud-Light, which I drink exclusively. I boycotted it when the NYT said that a boycott would have NO effect on sales. Oh, really?
I had no intention of boycotting Bud-Light, which I drink exclusively. I boycotted it when the NYT said that a boycott would have NO effect on sales. Oh, really?
Althouse said: "5. Don't like it? Don't drink! Or drink yourself into oblivion. But don't be an asshole."
21st Amendment right to drink
1st Amendment right to be an asshole.
I wouldn't pick on Mulvaney, but that Heinerscheid lady, she messed up.
Is it "picking on" Dylan Mulvaney to point out that he's doing a terrible job of pretending to be a woman?
Try harder.
Five points and not a one noticing the smarmy sneering at the existing customer base?
Point five was some excellent civility bullshit, though.
Five points and not a one noticing the smarmy sneering at the existing customer base?
Point five was some excellent civility bullshit, though.
"The whole world's a bottle
And life's but a dram
When the bottle gets empty
It sure ain't worth a damn"
Ann, you are attempting to mind read the boycotters. If I were one of them (which I am not, as I drink only stout), it would not be because I thought it made me look like a man (actually I'm a woman). It would be because: EWWW!
That is the same visceral reaction you had to the Dalai Lama asking the child to suck his tongue. So, sue me ...
if ( _IF_) the Bud Light marketing people thought this was going to go over with the customer base, then Why no social posting the past several days? why hunker down? why not do as Althouse says and ask "why can't we just get along?"
Why do we care? We care because this is yet another instance of trans-supremacy. Other prominent instances of trans-supremacy:
1. Our daughters losing athletic competitions to men.
2. Our wives and daughters having to share restrooms with men.
3. People who refuse to accept 1 and/or being canceled or even violently assaulted (see Riley Gaines).
4. People suffering professional consequences for failure to play along with an individual pretending to be the opposite sex.
Now this. This is the trans-supremacist faction flexing their power. The VP clearly understands who buys Bud Light. She states that the marketing to date is "fratty." That "fratty" marketing has contributed, perhaps caused, Bud Light to be the number one selling beer in the U.S. According to USA Today, it had almost twice the volume sold as number 2 Coors Light! (https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/03/18/the-most-popular-beer-brands-in-america/111416118/) This is not a brand that is "out-of-touch" with its customers.
So why do this? Because the trans-supremacists don't want trannies to just live their lives in peace. Everyone must bend the knee and they want to rub our faces in the trans spectacle.
OK, I'll bite. This topic has been kicked around like a fratty-crushed beer can, but your dissection of it intrigues me and reinforces why I keep coming here.
Sure, the initial reaction of most commenters has been visceral and quite dismissive...she's a lefty nut, typical of over-credentialed know-it-alls from Harvard & Wharton, pandering to a current cultural minority, doesn't really understand and in fact hates the core consumer population, and going to blow up the brand. For the record, that was my initial reaction too. And in the short run (next quarter to half year), it may look that way.
Maybe. But I've been involved at a high level in some interesting marketing campaigns. One thing that I've learned is that short-term results don't necessarily pre-confirm the long range results. And another thing I've learned is that some of the most startling long-term results started with a counter-intuitive premise, often not even personally championed by the person who conceived it. Just because they thought it might flip the conventional wisdom and end up capturing a market moving in a demographics-based trend.
Do I really think it will happen here? No. But thanks for the fratty can dissection to remind me of the times and the reasons I was wrong.
Could care less about the silly boy/girl and her absurd performance. Good for her for tapping into some woke cash. The reason people are pissed is that AB is normalizing this insane cult using this poor absurd person. Reading the PR persons explanation is an eye opener. Never will you read such a necklace of woke platitudes.
Problem is that the Mulvaney cat fancies himself an influencer. He says a lot of things on social media that is derogatory to the people who drink cheap beer like say Bud Light. Frat boys for example. Frat boys like cheap beer. So do rednecks. Making love in a canoe beer. Making someone who makes fun of your core demographic the face of your product is pretty stupid. Bud Light sales are falling because there are hundreds of local craft beers available that are better, and the cost is coming down. Seems like a bad time to alienate your core buyers....because the people you have decided are the future? They drink at those cool local places. Me, I like Mich Ultra (made by the same people) because it IS F---in close to water, and is perfect for sipping at the lake, which is where I drink most of the beer I drink. But I like Coors Light almost as much, and they have not gone out of their way to try to piss me off.
Are only people who agree with the direction of the culture of the country allowed to discuss the culture? If you don't like it, you have to shut up because it isn't about you?
5. Don't like it? Don't drink! Or drink yourself into oblivion. But don't be an asshole. Why are you picking on Dylan Mulvaney? Do you think it makes you look like a man?
WTF?
A drinking game? Punch drunk, perhaps. The inclusivity and classes of the fraternity and sorority cliques joined with the diversity of color judgments, class-based bigotry, and political congruence. Forward... to the past.
1. Budlight $2.03B
2. Coors Light $1.06BB
3. Miller Lite $0.899B
4. Budweiser $0.717B
5. Michelob Ultra Light$0.631B
6. Natural Light $0.336B
7. Busch Light $0.321B
8. Miller High Life $0.195B
9. Busch $0.194B
10. Blue Moon Belgian White Ale $0.164
https://stacker.com/food-drink/20-best-selling-beer-brands-america
Sales are from 2022, I think, but the article is not clear.
Note that #1 Bud Light is double its 2nd place competition.
Note also that Anhuiser-Busch has 6 of the top 10 beers and over 50% of sales. Bud light is going to be hardest hit but the spillover will affect the other brands as well.
Why would Bud Light take any chances with this kind of market and market share? The article notes that the "brand is in free-fall" but so are all the others. Bud Light needs to attract more beer drinkers but who is Mulvaney going to bring? It sounds to me like someone has a metaphorical knife at their throat.
As you note, Ann, ads tend to be aspirational. "I want to be like that guy in the ad". Or "I want to hang out with models like in the ad". Or "I want to live in a house like in the ad". Or "I want to lie down beside a mountain stream fishing like in the ad".
How many people are going to see Mulvaney and think "I want to hang out with him" or "I want to be like him." (question, does he even drink beer and if so, what brand?)
Few women will, they see him especially and transvestites in general as making a mockery of their sex. Esp atheletics, a traditional beer venue.
Lesbians won't, not the way transvestites are trying to harass lesbians into having sex with them.
Some gay guys might but there doesn't seem to be much of an alliance between gays and transvestites. So, say 25% of the 4% of the population that is gay.
Straight guys are pretty well turned off by Mulvaney's antics. Some Bud Light drinkers might be loyal despite Mulvaney. It is hard to imagine anyone switching because of him.
So who are these new customers who Mulvaney is going to attract? I can't see hardly anyone. Certainly not enough to make up for those he will drive away.
John Henry
She had one job, sell more beer. Instead she decided to destroy an entire brand. She should be fired along with who ever hired her and the share holders should sue both for wrecking the brand.
Get woke go broke and all that.
Advertising images are aspirational.
Ergo, no thanks.
Not picking on Dylan Mulvaney... just don't like a company that pushes this trans shit in our face.
Ann, Dylan Mulvaney IS NOT A WOMAN... He is a man dressing as a woman. He is a transvestite Ann, a cross dresser. FACT!!!
And these companies are trying TO FORCE US TO ACCEPT HIM AS A WOMAN...
So to hell with them. They can drink their own beer or swim it it or whatever.
"Why are you picking on Dylan Mulvaney? Do you think it makes you look like a man?" I've never cared for the over-the-top mimicry in blackface, drag, etc. I also have never cared for clowns and to me, Dylan is a clown mimicking a very silly woman. To state the obvious is not picking on Dylan and I doubt it makes me look like a man because I am a woman, born female.
All of the major light beer brands taste pretty similar, and they are generally consumed in large quantities by working-class men who want to hang out and drink for extended periods of time. The brand is important to them, like Chevy, Ford or Dodge trucks, as a badge of sorts--the fraternity of Bud Light guys.
Before this Mulvaney thing, if you offered most Bud Light guys a Coors Light they would say something along the lines of "I don't drink that weasel piss." Never mind that it tastes just like the weasel piss they drink; it's not their beer.
Now Bud Light is the drink of whatever this Mulvaney person purports to be. It is the precise opposite of how the average Bud Light guy wants to be perceived. Maybe that is insecure, maybe it's intolerant, maybe it is 'non-inclusive." It is what it is. Their Coors Lite drinking buddies will make fun of them for it. They are not going to be caught dead drinking the beer that Dylan Mulvaney drinks. It is absolutely all about image.
If your favorite wine producer came out with an ad campaign that touted--I don't know, Donald Trump, Jr.--as a drinker of that wine--or touted it as "the favorite wine of conservative Christians", would that turn you away from it? Maybe not you, personally, but I would expect that it would kill that wine in liberal markets.
AB would have been a lot smarter to have marketed one of its boutique brands with Mulvaney.
"Beverage Pretending To Be Beer Features Man Pretending To Be Woman"
—American's "Newspaper of Record," The Babylon Bee.
A more perfect summation of this nonsense would be hard to imagine.
I'm pretty confident that this is the end of the Bud Light brand, and Budweiser will be none too healthy either. Gillette went down this road, and it did not end well.
No one is picking on Mulvaney. It’s a nice paycheck for him.
They are picking on the Millennial Marketing Head who has just pissed off the consumers of the highest selling beer in the US.
She sabotaged the brand she was in charge of.
The trans already have White Claw. None of them are going to switch to Bud Light.
"Heinerscheid" actually sounds like the name of a beer.
Well, fratty kept the lights on for the last 40 years but, sure, attack and insult your most loyal customers. It’s crappy beer anyway and doesn’t deserve to be the king.
Ann's persistent avoidance of stepping into the trans debate other than the casual "let them be who they want to be" remark, when clearly there is so much more at stake, leads me to believe that she has a close relative who identifies as trans.
My question for the professor is whether she is offended by the caricature of femininity presented by this ad.
In the good old days, when I paid attention to beer commercials, I was aware that beautiful women were attracted to men who bought Michelob. You could see it in their faces when the guy stepped up to the bar and ordered Michelob. Some other beer was the one to have when you were having more than one, but Michelob was the beer to drink if you wanted to attract the attention of beautiful women....Some men in transition are half way credible as attractive women. I guess Bud Light is the beer to drink if you want to catch their attention. I'm not sure of the dynamics, but maybe straight guys who are transitioning to gay go for transients with a pretty face and a penis. It's part of the hero's journey and market share. Bud Light. Gay Light.
Spuds McKenzie laughs from the grave.
By using a transgender spokeswoman, Budweiser is clearly taking sides on a contentious philosophical, religions, medical, and as a result political issue. Taking sides on issues of this nature is typically considered bad business. I don't believe in boycotting companies because of their ads--my life is too short--and in any case I never drink Bud Light, but for a company to take religious or political positions I disagree with certainly doesn't make me more likely to buy their product.
It's characteristic of Prof. Althouse's politics that the society she envisions can only be built by denigrating and excluding whole classes of people, like frat boys or religious conservatives, who never did her any particular harm except by failing to valorize the things she wants valorized.
hateful clods
Nice shade!
I think that trannies are, basically, mentally ill and that the lefties are shoving that crap down our throats. As Jason Whitlock recently said about the lefties, "They’re so unrighteous. They’re so unclean, that, you know, finding common ground is impossible with people who think men can become women, who told us, “Hey, look, we just want two men to be able to get married, and there’s no slippery slope.” And that was a lie. And we’ve seen the slippery slope. Now it’s drag queens reading books to kids. Now it’s taking kids to drag queen shows. Now it’s mutilating kids and infecting them with gender dysphoria and using it as an excuse to cut off their breasts or cut off their penis.",
I am among those 'hateful clods' who completely agrees with him. That likely puts me sqarely in the basket of deplorables.... not to mention the bitter clingers.
Ann, I'll return the shade. The lefties are such nasty and hateful little shits.
I'll drink to that. As the Froggies say, à ta santé
- Krumhorn
Perhaps zir's image can be printed on a box of Tampax.
No big deal.
Krum horn hits a home run!
I mentioned this in a prior cafe thread, but I will repeat it here. Anheuser Busch should have had Mulvaney endorse Busch beer, or better yet, Busch Light.
Gee, Ann. Thanks for taking all day to nuke my post.
“ My question for the professor is whether she is offended by the caricature of femininity presented by this ad.”
The performance of femininity is pervasive, whether male-bodied persons participate or not. I’m not going to get outraged over all of it because it would waste my energy and be too repressive. I support individual expression including making fun of women (and men). Comedy is important!
There might be an individual performer who offends me, but I will get offended on a case by case basis.
so the VP (which is who WE are criticizing) said Bud Light Sales are hurting and need renovation
She's Got a point.
Bud Light sales are hurting SO MUCH, that they Only sell Twice as many as the next highest ranking brew.
TWICE AS MUCH.
You can see why she was concerned..
You can see WHY she says Bud Light NEEDS a new customer base.
WHO CARES? If they totally Alienate the current customer base?
It's ONLY THE Most Popular Beer on The Planet
So, if you lose That group of 'frattys' and replace them with Ann Althouse, you'll STILL be selling a case a year (maybe)..
Serious Question.. Ann? do you DRINK Beer? Did You (ever) Drink Beer? If so, what sort and how much?
Commenter 'Mike' is right. If you spot a beer can on the side of the road, yup, the brand will be Bud Light.
As mentioned some time ago, MeadeHouse should do some bar hopping in the great unwashed of WI and check out a meat raffle or charity event for local medically challenged folk. At least a fish fry in a tavern.
You folks have been here way too long to wonder who drinks light beer.
Kinda embarrassing.
Reading some of the comments, being a child of the 80’s I thoroughly remember Richard Simmons. By my high school years we all knew he was gay, but actually seemed like a decent human and really wanted to help people.
Mulvany is nothing more than a circus clown. How Ms. Althouse is falling for its Schlick is beyond me. Just millennial opportunism funded by DEI employees with worthless degrees.
AB has decided that poking its core customer base in the eye with a sharp stick is a winning strategy. It will be remembered as either a stroke of genius or a woke brand suicide. I am betting on a funeral and not a victory parade. But the again I haven’t lived and worked in Madison, so what do I know.
Post a Comment