Get marketing news you'll actually want to read
Marketing Brew informs marketing pros of the latest on brand strategy, social media, and ad tech via our weekday newsletter, virtual events, marketing conferences, and digital guides.
Sounds like some people could use a beer.
A week ago, trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney posted about a partnership with Bud Light, showing off a custom can designed to celebrate her one-year mark since transitioning, which she has documented through her “Days of Girlhood” TikTok series. The partnership has since drawn some very heated reactions from conservatives, including musician Kid Rock, who responded by *checks notes* shooting Bud Light cases with a rifle.
As talk of a boycott rumbles online, some say it’s nothing more than performance politics. Bud Light, for its part, seems to be standing by its work.
A new leaf: Bud Light’s work with Mulvaney takes place under the purview of Alissa Heinerscheid, the company’s VP of marketing. As the first woman to oversee the brand, Heinerscheid has been open about her goals to increase female representation in the brand’s marketing, as exhibited in recent commercials like Bud Light’s Super Bowl ad and “The Bud Light Carry.”
In a recent episode of the Make Yourself at Home podcast, Heinerscheid said she decided to home in on inclusivity as a way to attract young customers and lift the Bud Light brand out of a years-long decline. On the podcast, she described Bud Light as having been “a brand of fratty,” “out-of-touch humor,” comments that have also come under fire in the backlash to the Mulvaney campaign.
What’s next? Since the backlash began, AB InBev has remained mostly silent on social media, but said in a statement that its choice to support Mulvaney’s one-year milestone was designed to “authentically connect with audiences across various demographics.” While some have insisted that Bud Light sales will suffer, certain bars have said they’ve seen no change in demand, and Rolling Stone pointed out that “woke” boycotts typically don’t impact brands’ bottom lines.
“When you’re at the center of culture then you are always going to be a target for this type of controversy,” Lisa Weser, CEO of Trailblaze and a former AB InBev exec, told Ad Age. “This is not the first controversy and it’s not going to be the last for this brand.”
Snowflakes falling: Mulvaney’s partnership with Nike has also come under fire from conservatives like Caitlyn Jenner, who is also a trans woman. In response, Nike told its Instagram followers to “be kind” and “be inclusive.”