© InstagramAnheuser-Busch set social media ablaze when beer juggernaut Bud Light celebrated transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney’s "365 Days of Girlhood" with a polarizing promotion.
Anheuser-Busch distributors in rural areas of the Heartland and South are "spooked" after widespread backlash to Bud Light celebrating transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney's "365 Days of Girlhood" with a polarizing promotion, according to the trade publication Beer Business Daily.
Earlier this month, the trans activist revealed that the beer company sent packs of Bud Light featuring the influencer's face as a way to celebrate a full year of "girlhood" that Mulvaney recently reached. Mulvaney said the cans were her "most prized possession" on Instagram with a post featuring "#budlightpartner." A video then featured Mulvaney in a bathtub drinking a Bud Light beer as part of the campaign.
The announcement was met with significant criticism, with some Twitter users describing the ad campaign as the latest attempt to push gender propaganda. Many people mocked Bud Light over the partnership, conservative rocker Kid Rock even used several Bud Light cases for target practice in a viral video, and there have been calls to boycott.
Beer Business Daily, a popular beer industry trade publication, promised to view the situation "purely from a marketing and sales perspective" without putting a spotlight on political and social ramifications. The publication noted that Mulvaney had piled up over one billion TikTok views, and her fanbase is largely made up of Gen Z members that beer companies are "desperate" to reach.
"We reached out to a handful of A-B [Anheuser-Busch] distributors who were spooked, most particularly in the Heartland and the South, and even then in their more rural areas," the trade publication wrote.
In the short term, Beer Business Daily noted that data is very limited but "it appears likely Bud Light took a volume hit in some markets over the holiday weekend," noting that the rural customers are also most likely to celebrate Easter.
"Whether it lasts or whether the publicity sparks incremental off-setting demand from over the ideological divide in metro areas, remains to be seen," the publication added before diving into the long-term ramifications that indicate it's difficult to "appeal to the sensitivities of a new generation of drinkers" without offending longtime customers.
'I've never seen the country so hotly divided, sadly," the author wrote.
Beer Business Daily charges $890 per year for access to what's billed as "the inside scoop of the beer industry."
"Our readers include all of the top distributors, brewery executives, retailers, and allied advertising and legal professionals in the trade. Our price is expensive by design, not blunder, to keep the valuable information amongst a tight group of beer industry veterans who are serious about the business of beer. Beer Business Daily is read on every continent except Antarctica," the publication's website states.
The beer juggernaut has stood by the polarizing decision.
"Anheuser-Busch works with hundreds of influencers across our brands as one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences across various demographics. From time to time we produce unique commemorative cans for fans and for brand influencers, like Dylan Mulvaney. This commemorative can was a gift to celebrate a personal milestone and is not for sale to the general public," an Anheuser-Busch spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
Bud Light vice president Alissa Heinerscheid previously appeared on the podcast "Make Yourself At Home" and discussed her work in transforming the Bud Light brand. She aimed to update the "fratty" and "out of touch" humor of the beer company with inclusivity.
"I'm a businesswoman, I had a really clear job to do when I took over Bud Light, and it was 'This brand is in decline, it's been in a decline for a really long time, and if we do not attract young drinkers to come and drink this brand there will be no future for Bud Light,'" Heinerscheid said.
In a previous interview with Forbes, Heinerscheid claimed that "female representation is a personal passion point of mine."
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