We wouldn’t be surprised by this boycott if the influencer was some politician or known problematic individual. However, some patrons of Bud Light decided to refrain from buying the can of beers after the company sent influencer Dylan Mulvaney a handful of beers.
Mulvaney posted a video of herself dressed like Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany’s to celebrate her first year of womanhood as well as March Madness. The company also featured her face in one of the cans as part of a paid sponsorship deal and promotion for their sweepstakes challenge. Buyers who participate can win $15,000 from Bud Light by sending in videos with their beers.
The people who decided to boycott didn’t have issues with her dress, or the fact that she cosplayed Holly Golightly. It was because she is transgender. Anti-trans sentiment is prominent in those who lean towards the right. The propaganda against the LGBTQ+ community is taken to extremes thanks to conservative media and legislation. We all know that those who really tend to harm children aren’t members of the community.
Consumers leaning on right-wing politics are now banning the brand from their refrigerators. Here’s the question, though, is Bud Light being harmed by this ridiculous sentiment? Not very. Its parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBev, has tons of brands under its umbrella and is worth over $100 billion. In addition, its stock has gone up over the past month.
Also, boycotts like these tend to not really stick. This is because most people don’t respond or don’t care. With Bud Light’s campaign with Mulvaney, it probably thinks that another portion of consumers will buy their products in exchange for those reacting quite badly.
“They’re just far more diversified and globalized than this market and this one brand, and bringing a substantial, sustained boycott against them to pressure them into walking back their support for trans people or however you interpret this campaign, it would require just an enormous amount of coordination and discipline that, frankly, the right-wing in this country just doesn’t really display for stuff like this,” said Dave Infante, a beer columnist for VinePair and the publisher of the drinks newsletter Fingers.
Image screenshot via Dylan Mulvaney/Instagram