June 30, 2023

"For a company to hire a trans person and then not publicly stand by them is worse than not hiring a trans person at all."

100 comments:

Charlie said...

Stop the world.....I want to get off.

Gahrie said...

Wait, so it wasn't just one can promotional gift, Mulvaney was "hired"?

That's not what AB told us.

RNB said...

Dylan Mulvaney was 'hired'? I thought A-B just sent him a beer can. (I'm sorry, I could not watch all the video. What is the transgender equivalent of the 'Uncanny Valley' revulsion some people experience when watching not-quite-human-enough CGI?)

MadisonMan said...

Playing the Victim Card. Classic.

RideSpaceMountain said...

Not hitting play so I can hear that nails-on-a-chalkboard sing-song lisping creature. His rainbow jihadi ululating is not what I want to start off the long weekend with.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Funny how both Tranheiser-Busch and Dylan and the DNC Media relentlessly keep the focus on Dylan and "the can" when the real damage done to the brand came because the quotes from marketing VP Heinersheid were so condescending toward Bud Light's customer base and the CEO can't bring himself to acknowledge that and apologize for insulting frat boys and rednecks. She made it clear that Bud saw their customers as unworthy of representing the brand and she wanted a new face. If it wasn't Dylan it would have been any number of lefty celebrity a' la minute that would signal their social justice/ESG bonafides. Dylan is incidental to the story but coincidentally happens to be a fantastic example in whom both sides see the embodiment of current culture, albeit from distinctly different points of view.

I'm just here to analyze the language used to frame this travesty.

RideSpaceMountain said...

A message to our corporate friends
There’s time enough to make amends
This phenomenon is here to stay
You’re fools to think this goes away
Be it known from here on out
If you don’t know what we’re on about
If you insist on pushing gay
We promise you we will not pay

- Target our kids and we'll target your profits

M said...

Normies don’t want to be sold “masculine” things by trannies. Mass produced beer commercials have always been aimed at men because men buy 90% of mass produced beer. Normie men don’t like fake women. If you want to give trannies a job peddling products let them sell eye cream to rich white boomer women who are all in on this crap. The people who love Jane Fonda and Joyce Carol Oates. That is the niche for trannie sales outside the queer community. Young people who haven’t decided they are “queer” for social status are not interested in trannies either.

gilbar said...

so? We're Agreed then? do NOT hire trans people?

PM said...

Hey, Even Shohei strikes out sometimes. Buck up.

Greg the Class Traitor said...

"For a company to make a mistake and then not double down on the mistake is worse than not making the mistake at all."

Well, that's true.

What they should be doing is firing the CEO, who "took responsibility" for the decision, as well as the marketing people involved.

Followed by an apology to their customers for having hired people who hated them ("we need to be less fratty").

Since they're not going to do that, they should go into a death spiral and never come out of it

gilbar said...

The marketing VP told us that Bud Light was a dying brand..
We didn't realize she was confessing to murder

Dave Begley said...

Dylan cost AB InBev billions. What does he want? Sympathy?

Big Mike said...

Maybe true, but a corporation cannot afford financial losses measured in the tens of billions, either.

Temujin said...

Sorry. I couldn't get past the 'Hi'. Had to cut it off.
You can't stand by a bad idea. It was a bad idea from the start. Those involved in the decision making were canned. Why would Dylan be excluded? It's show biz. It's marketing. It's life. You win, you do well, you make them money, you get praise. You do poorly, you make them lose money, they forget you even existed.

This is not a 'trans' thing. It's a life thing and has been happening to all people for all time. Welcome to humanity and the real world we live in.

Oh Yea said...

And all for what? They the people targeted by that campaign were never going to buy Bud Light anyway.

Ice Nine said...

Needz moar tit.

Yancey Ward said...

It's not his fault that the company fucked up, but it also isn't the company's responsibility to keep paying for services no longer needed.

Quaestor said...

Yeah, the only way to morally correct a wrong turn is to continue on course right over the cliff and into the canyon floor a thousand feet below, Wiley Coyote-style.

Yes surgically disfigured people like beer, too. And now they have their very own!

Gusty Winds said...

The Queen of Beers.

Iman said...

Go sell crazy elsewhere. Just make it go away

MB said...

Is it worse than treating your customers like deplorables?

If you hire someone to help sell your product and the opposite occurs, then they haven't done what they were hired to do. Mulvaney was hired to help sell the beer, the beer wasn't there to help Mulvaney.

cassandra lite said...

One suspects that that's likely to be an increasingly common corporate motto from now on.

"We'd be better off not hiring a trans person as face of the company because we then have to stand by them if there's a huge backlash. Dylan gave us permission not to hire at all."

tim maguire said...

If you're hiring a trans person as part of a public statement about your support for trans, then you should be prepared to take some blows. To go down that road with someone and then leave them to twist the moment you get pushback is cowardly.

But is that what AB did here? Mulvaney put herself out there long before AB came along. They may have changed direction without putting up a fight, but what obligation did they have to continue with an ad strategy that they realized was a mistake? None, I should think.

CJinPA said...

What a strange, unsure nation we've become. I know social media is not an accurate reflection of real-life interactions, but it increasingly drives real-life developments and policy. I don't know if the progressive movement planned it this way, but this is what they produced: conflict, over everything, every day.

Aught Severn said...

I believe this is known as the sunk cost fallacy. Trying to stick with a losing decision and make it good because you have already invested resources into it. Despite mulvaney's whining, it was the correct devising to make for the company.

Skeptical Voter said...

Give it a rest Dylan.

NKP said...

What exactly is this person "proud" of? Faking his gender (which he's also faking until he dis-members himself).

Fine. If 70 and 80 year-old guys can "charm" 18 year-old women into bed good for them, too. Right? It's legal. Some would say it's also creepy. Anyone being called a bigot for that view?

Where's my f***ing flag? What time does my parade start? When does every educator and every broadcaster in this country start telling people they influence that I'm deserving of understanding, inclusion and, yes, celebration.

When does my display go up at clothing retailers catering to teenage girls? Come-on Disney; are you planning projects that celebrate me? Netflix? Amazon? Apple?

FWIW, I have three very dear friends of many years who are homosexual. All are very accomplished people and the most interesting and delightful companions one could wish for. Some aspects of their personal lives are private. A good idea for all of us.

Leland said...

It is a mistake for the company to say "this is our new marketing strategy" and then change their mind. Whether you like Mulvaney or not, Mulvaney was maligned by AB's actions as well. They may not owe Mulvaney continued "employment" (was that the offer?), but like so many maligned by AB, a simple straight honest apology would be nice. It is not going to happen, because being woke assumes a level of superiority that doesn't need to apologize.

Jim Howard said...

This is why General Florg of the planet Graxon V has de died there is no intelligent life on earth.

MikeD said...

FFS, it's not a "trans person", merely a female impersonator in it for the grift. BTW, beginning of 60's college daze in SF, a go to place for fun (they weren't good about carding) was Finnochio's. Very talented impersonators putting on really fun & entertaining shows. Clientele were likely 90% straight but, you not only couldn't tell, you didn't care.

rhhardin said...

Don't hire women. It's nothing but problems.

Dude1394 said...

Her whiney self is making all women look bad.

Butkus51 said...

I was 8 when I realized celebrity endorsements mean nothing.

Rory said...

". I don't know if the progressive movement planned it this way, but this is what they produced: conflict, over everything, every day."

This is how Soviet disinformation was directed 90 years ago. It unfortunately took root in our media and academia, who now turn us against each other for profit.

Marcus Bressler said...

Normal, everyday people lose their jobs over minor things: forgetting to make a shift, having kids sick so you cannot work a couple of days, or - in management's case, having two bad accounting periods in a row on the P&L front. AB lost BILLIONS and these people still have jobs?

'Don't worry, we'll just raise the price of our other brands to make up for it....'

MarcusB. THEOLDMAN

Talk about an "ol' boys club with woke women members also'

stutefish said...

Regardless of how we define "hired", and regardless of whether Mulvaney is using the term figuratively or misusing it literally, he has a valid point.

Quaestor said...

I don't know if the progressive movement planned it this way, but this is what they produced: conflict, over everything, every day.

Study the history of revolutionaries from the Jacobins to Mao's Red Guards and you'll discover that conflict generation, known in Leninist jargon as agitprop, is a self-consciously deliberate means intended to dissolve a targetted society.

Limited blogger said...

Former frat boy here.

We mostly drank the cheapest beer we could find, we were only renting it.

Rob C said...

Maybe Dylan can go commiserate with Rosanne Barr and Gina Carano.

Maynard said...

Despite being a failed actor, you made your money Dylan.

Stop crying.

pacwest said...

Mulvaney is not "trans" anything. He's just making a buck by cross dressing and doing a Flip Wilson shtick using a Peewee Herman imitation. Funny as far as it went, but pretend time is over now. I'm guessing his audience has shrunk and he's going to have to go into victim mode to make a living now. A lotta competition there, but still plenty of rubes to take advantage of.

Not buying a particular brand doesn't harm anyone except the company. If the trannies want to drink Bud Light have at it. I hear it's on sale cheap.

Lilly, a dog said...

It takes a lot of balls to whine at a company, after you cost them a 25-30% drop in Bud Light sales.

Aggie said...

As always, I'm not watching his video because I'm not interested. But, it does appear that at last we are close to agreement on something: They shouldn't have hired you at all.

wild chicken said...

I'm still amazed that so many people drank Bud Light.

cubanbob said...

The business of business is to make money for its owners. Publicly owned business should do their job of increasing the shareholder equity and not play politics and ideology. A competent SEC would be cracking down on ESG and other such ideologies that have no place in the managing of the business. Until directors and officers are held personally financially liable for such unforced and blindingly obvious errors this won't stop.

cubanbob said...

The business of business is to make money for its owners. Publicly owned business should do their job of increasing the shareholder equity and not play politics and ideology. A competent SEC would be cracking down on ESG and other such ideologies that have no place in the managing of the business. Until directors and officers are held personally financially liable for such unforced and blindingly obvious errors this won't stop.

Darcy said...

This is a mentally ill man. I usually have sympathy for this, but his passive aggressive BS has eliminated that.

We are witnessing the enormous damage caused by a really bad experiment by the left, greedy medical providers and the left's stupid enablers. It won't end well for them. I do feel for the mentally ill victims being harmed and exploited. Again though, not this guy.

Blastfax Kudos said...

I am profoundly satisfied that today is the last day of priDEMONth. Tonight at 11:59pm one month of official propaganda ends and 11 months of unofficial propaganda begins. Joy.

walter said...

It's her first go round with the Pump and Dump.

mikeski said...

Mulvaney put herself[...]

Himself.

Dylan Mulvaney has never been, is not now, and will never be a woman, because it doesn't matter what you chop off or bolt on, what you wear or how you pitch your voice.

I can stick floppy ears on my head and a cotton ball on my ass, hop around all day and eat lettuce, and sleep in a cage, and I will never be a rabbit.

Your chromosomes are not a sim card, and that is the end of the story.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

What tim Maguire said.

This is about product sales. If an ad campaign is a bust - any business would abandon and move on. In this case it was a person. Well... sucks to be that person - but such is life.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

AB has acted dishonorably from the start. Dylan did what “she” was hired to do. Bud went radio silent immediately leaving Dylan and the Brand VP hanging. The contemporary podcast framed the story. The next statement weeks later was weasel worded. The marketing people were “on leave.” And then a cowboys and flags ad appeared and people laughed at Bud Light and inventories piled up and market share eroded. And yet it’s still a they said/they said story, in which Dylan appears to be the most honest actor. I think the whole transanity craze has peaked culture-wise and I dislike the strife activists introduce into our society but the only person who is telling the truth is her. Dude earned my respect for handling this with grace, especially for an influencer, a class I hold in low esteem generally.

Meet the new Schlitz same as the old Pabst.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

I don't like bullies - and if muvaney is really being bullied -that is 100% wrong.

but - at one point Mulvany said that she thought people who didn't use pronouns correctly, belong in prison.

mccullough said...

Bud will pay him a billion to record himself drinking a Miller Lite.

mccullough said...

Mulvaney isn’t trans. He’s a grifter.

Jupiter said...

That is one sick puppy.

Mikey NTH said...

The company isn't married to you, it's business and you proved bad for business.

farmgirl said...

How special.

policraticus said...

I actually agree with him, or her, or whatever. If you want to be supportive and celebrate Dylan Mulvaney with you brand and your beer, have the courage of your convictions. Holding him up as a brand ambassador may not be my cup of tea, but every company is allowed to choose mascots and marketing schemes as they like. Celebrating Mulvaney as a hero and then dropping him like a hot tamale the moment there is a backlash is pretty shitty. Letting him hang out in the breeze like wounded animal while the vultures circle is even shittier. Especially when Mulvaney has done nothing more than be him/herself. There are ways to severe ties without looking like a cringing, craven worm. I was hardly a Bud Lite fan before, based solely on the quality of their product. Now? I'm sticking to whiskey.

tim in vermont said...

If you recall what actually happened, Bud said that they had the wrong kind of customers. Problem solved. Had they simply said “we love all of our customers,” this would be over by now.

Michael K said...


Blogger tim in vermont said...

If you recall what actually happened, Bud said that they had the wrong kind of customers. Problem solved. Had they simply said “we love all of the customers we have left,” this would be over by now.


FIFY

John henry said...

What kind of beer is he holding? Pretty wimpy to hold an anonymous beer like that.

He should be holding a bottle of Coors or Model with the label prominent. (proud?).

He should also refuse to deny that he is getting paid by Coors or modelo and maybe talk about how they support the summer of pride.

Please don't call me a troublemaker

John lgb Henry

Smilin' Jack said...

I haven’t really been following the trans stuff, so I find the photo confusing. Is Mulvaney transitioning human -> Martian? Or the other way?

Big Mike said...

Celebrating Mulvaney as a hero and then dropping him like a hot tamale the moment there is a backlash is pretty shitty.

@policraticus, losing $27.billion (with a ‘B’) is more than just a “backlash.” And far more shitty, when you have a fiduciary duty to your stockholders.

dbp said...

On one hand, should AB be loyal to a spokesperson that cost them a ton of money? Maybe they should, if they feel that's more important than loyalty to their workers and stockholders.

The bottom line is that the Bud Light customer base is straight men and most straight men find Mulvaney to be unsettling, creepy and revolting.

John henry said...

Meet the new Schlitz same as the old Pabst.

You think you're joking but you are not.

I can tell you from direct, first-hand personal knowledge that the only difference between schitz, Pabst and a dozen other brands is the label/can. They all come from the same tank. They fill some Pabst, Change the label, fill some more as schitz, change the label and fill some Rolling Rock.

John lgb Henry

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Greg the Class Traitor said...

What they should be doing is firing the CEO, who "took responsibility" for the decision, as well as the marketing people involved.

They reportedly have. Both the CEO and Head of Marketing are on "extended leave of absence", which is the new legal dept. CYA phrase for "exploring other opportunities".

Followed by an apology to their customers for having hired people who hated them ("we need to be less fratty").

That will never happen.

JAORE said...

Ad grunt: Hey boss. have a great idea. Let's piggy back onto the Trans movement with ties to Bud Light. I predict we'll sell THOUSANDS of more cans.

Boss: OK, let's give it a go.



Boss: Well that was a horrible bust. But, we picked the plan. Let's plow ahead.

IS THIS REALLY WHAT SOME ARE ADVOCATING?

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

"For a company to hire a trans person and then not publicly stand by them is worse than not hiring a trans person at all."

As a nonbinary person, I say we take the lesser of those two evils. Thanks for providing a solution.

FWIW, I would never hire a guy who models himself as a 14-year-old girl. The guy has zero fashion sense. It's just cosplay.

William said...

Well Bud Light has now lost the support of the trans community. The final nail. Another two or three dozen cases will not be sold annually.....I watched the video. Dylan is unsettling to look at. That's the way s/he has chosen to look and Dylan has made great efforts to look that way. If Dylan is preaching tolerance, he should be tolerant of those who find such a look off putting. How are we supposed to react to her/im? Is the only polite reaction to accept him/er as not just a woman but as a heroic figure or are we permitted to ponder the wtf dimensions of Dylan...Dylan, for his part, is not showing much loyalty to AB who, after all, did give him a job. Dylan has trouble showing commitment to a brand.

Jim at said...

For a company to hire a trans person and then not publicly stand by them is worse, in my opinion, than not hiring a trans person at all.

Your terms are acceptable.

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

We need a Dylan scale. On one end, this guy. On the other, Bob. That would pretty much cover everyone ever named Dylan.

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

"I do feel for the mentally ill victims being harmed and exploited."

Exactly. If an anorexic girl's self-image is that she's fat, despite looking like a skeleton, is the proper treatment more diet pills and laxatives? Dysmorphia -- regardless of the form it takes -- should never be encouraged, let alone aided and abetted for cash.

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

"I can stick floppy ears on my head and a cotton ball on my ass, hop around all day and eat lettuce, and sleep in a cage, and I will never be a rabbit."

True. But you've just risen to the top of my perfect man shortlist. :-)

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

"but every company is allowed to choose mascots and marketing schemes as they like."

Bullshit. Remember Sambo's restaurants? Coon Chicken Inn ? Resurrect the last one and see how well it goes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coon_Chicken_Inn

Owen said...

I just looked at the pic of Dylan Mulvaney. One small step away from the "comedy" mask you see in theatrical settings. Inhuman.

Wince said...

All over a can of watery swill.

Jersey Fled said...

Roughly 6 hours to go and my oh-so-woke neighbor still has her flag waving. It’s pretty torn and faded because it likely was made in China. But I guess she plans to get her full measure of smug virtue out of it.

chuck said...

AB had a problem, but Mulvaney wasn't the problem, AB's decision to use him in an ad was the problem.

Dave Begley said...

Dylan's rack is really pathetic.

Mason G said...

"Especially when Mulvaney has done nothing more than be him/herself."

There's the problem, right there.

Dylan would have to be the most obtuse, clueless individual on the planet to not realize how polarizing his (not her) money grubbing schtick is. He wanted attention. He got it.

cfs said...

Yancey Ward said...
It's not his fault that the company fucked up, but it also isn't the company's responsibility to keep paying for services no longer needed.

----

Yeah, I believe Mulvaney's job is done. Bud Light is pretty much a non-product these days.

I still can't get past the fact that a 27 (or so) year-old guy is making big bucks by pretending to be a pre-teen girl and women everywhere seem to be okay with it. And, he is not even good at playing that role! As a side note, the guy looks unhealthy. He weighs about as much as a pre-teen anorexic girl. I suspect we will be reading about his "tragic" end in the near future.

FullMoon said...

Attractive. Articulate.
There must be a spot in this administration.
The Department of Nuclear Energy has an opening.

Kevin said...

She’s literally complaining about being treated like a woman.

Robert Cook said...

"As always, I'm not watching his video because I'm not interested. But, it does appear that at last we are close to agreement on something: They shouldn't have hired you at all."

Why not? What's the harm? Why do you care?

Rt41Rebel said...

Let him endorse Shock Top or Busch Light. Everyone wins!

Doug said...

but - at one point Mulvany said that she thought people who didn't use pronouns correctly, belong in prison

And I see Hunter Biden's taxpayer etc. doesn't want to go to prison.

farmgirl said...

“Don't hire women. It's nothing but problems.“

Rotflmao!! Astute observation, Rh(wiping tears)

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

"Why not? What's the harm?"

Maybe ask AB?

H said...

If a company hires Amos and Andy to endorse the company product in the 1950s then should it stand by Amos and Andy in the 2020s, or should it recognize that Amos and Andy are discredited representatives of the Black community?

tim in vermont said...

No, I really think that the gratuitous insults to the customers is what gave this thing legs. Sure, politicians will call them "bitter clingers," or "deplorables," and they are used to that, they never voted for those people, but when your beer company who happily takes your money calls you deplorable, well, you can do something about that.

Rocco said...

Rob C said...
"Maybe Dylan can go commiserate with Rosanne Barr and Gina Carano."

Two and a Half Women

Not Sure said...

RNB asked, What is the transgender equivalent of the 'Uncanny Valley' revulsion some people experience when watching not-quite-human-enough CGI?)

The Uncanny Tranny?

Tina Trent said...

Turns out that adult men in girl-child make-up playing daddy don't spank me games in bubble baths doesn't sell beer to NASCAR fans.

Maybe Wharton can do a case study to prevent similar disasters. Oh, wait.

Tina Trent said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
mikee said...

There used to be a saying among Hollywood stars, "Don't work with animals or children." Not for what today would seem to be the obvious problematic sexual reasons, thank goodness, but just because back then it was recognized that they always steal the scene from you, the star.

Same thing with hot public issues today. Let 'em cool down a bit, mature a little, before using them in your advertising, so your product remains the star of the ad, without the issue stealing all the attention you've paid for.

traditionalguy said...

So when you go WOKE it’s required that YOU GO BROKE too. Fair is fair.

lonejustice said...

This may be a trans sexist comment, but, say everything negative you want about Dylan Mulvaney, he's sure made a better transition than Rachel Levine.

PM said...

I actually find him kind of charming - as an act - which is what it is. The whole 'I'm really a girl' thing is, frankly, inane. He's no more a girl than Dana Carvey was really a Church Lady. But we all laughed at that. Dylan's got a nice schtick - he should admit as much, wear his dresses and do stand-up.