Budweiser pivots with new ad after partnership with transgender TikTok star stirs backlash
ST. LOUIS -- The makers of Budweiser and Bud Light are trying to change the narrative surrounding the company with a new ad campaign.
The campaign follows a partnership with a transgender influencer that sparked some outrage.
Monday morning, a new Budweiser ad campaign launched that Anheuser-Busch hopes will help the company "ride out" a boycott.
It features the nostalgia of an iconic Clydesdale, galloping through all-American landscapes, with men grabbing a couple of cold ones together.
The ad comes two weeks after Bud Light's partnership with transgender influencer, Dylan Mulvaney.
"This month I celebrated my day 365 of womanhood, and bud light sent me possibly the best gift ever, a can with my face on it," Mulvaney said in a social media video.
Mulvaney's post drew the ire of some bud light enthusiasts, including celebrities like Kid Rock, who played target practice with the beer.
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What the new ad campaign does not offer is an explanation for Bud Light breaking away from its traditional male-oriented advertising, in favor of a transgender actress with 10 million followers on TikTok.
"We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people," Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth said. "We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer."
Donald Trump Jr. spoke out on his podcast, defending Anheuser-Busch and praising the company for donating to many Republicans.
"I'm not for destroying an American, an iconic, company for something like this," Trump Jr. said.
He criticized "woke" messaging.
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"Frankly, they don't participate in the same woke garbage that other people in the beer industry actually do, who are significantly worse offenders," Trump Jr. said.
Bud Light's marketing director has said the brand is in decline and needs to evolve and be more inclusive.
