Bud Light and its sister brands, namely Budweiser, are still floundering in the wake of Bud Light’s disastrous decision to have transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney do an ad for the brand on April 1st, an ad meant to drum up new interest in the brand for the March Madness playoffs.
That was months ago and the boycott began near-immediately afterward, but it’s still dragging on and dragging the brand down. Surprisingly given how poorly other “boycotts” went, such as the boycott of the NFL, it seems not only to be doing damage to the woke brand, but continuing in the face of the relentless passage of time.
Adding particular poignance to the brand’s decline is a video out of the Sturgis, South Dakota, motorcycle rally that shows bikers rumbling by a Budweiser tent…which was completely empty in the video. What used to be America’s beer is now the transgender beer, and people remember that, humiliating the now much-discredited brand.
As a result, the company is trying every trick in the book, other than apologizing for spitting on its customers’ conservative values with the Mulvaney ad, to win back its former customers. The latest attempt to do so was a camouflage can, as if the design on the bottle of transgender beer is what matters.
Rolling out that new can design, which is just red but with a somewhat camouflage pattern, Budweiser posted a picture on Twitter and captioned it, saying, “New can, same support for our nation’s veterans. Our camo cans are now available nationwide.”
New can, same support for our nation's veterans. Our camo cans are now available nationwide. pic.twitter.com/X6fv9pUIUx
— Budweiser (@budweiserusa) August 14, 2023
Predictably, that led to Budweiser getting humiliated in its comments section, “@budweiserusa
backpedal pandering isn’t a good look. Our Vets,(at least the ones I know), are upset with you & #boycott because y’all decided to #GoWokeGoBroke,” one commenter said.
Another commenter, responding to one who said, “Budweiser is dead to us beer drinkers,” skewered Budweiser for trying to pass off its disaster onto veterans, saying, “Sorry Bud. You can’t ride the coattails of our veterans to a successful whitewashing of your marketing fiasco and subsequent failure to own up to it. Our brave service members didn’t hide behind others. You can’t hide behind them. So…make mine a Yuengling! #GoWokeGoBroke 🇺🇸”
Similarly, another veteran was annoyed that Bud tried a meaningless paean to vets to get out of trouble with conservative beer drinkers, saying, “As a veteran, attempting to buy your way out of the bad decisions you have made… makes me distance myself even further from your brand.”
Still another joined in to say that the design might have been cool before the brand became the transgender beer, but now is ridiculous, saying, “Would have been a power move if it was BBD (Budweiser Before Dylan). Now it just look like you are trying too hard to get the consumers back that you yourself said you were trying to get away from… too fratty?”
One hilarious commenter got blocked by Budweiser for saying, “Camo and horses aren’t going to save you this time around. We won’t forget.” That commenter called on Budweiser to “just apologize,” saying, “And I’m blocked. That’s a great way to win back customers. Just apologize. The whole world knows you screwed up. Business students will literally use you as a case study in marketing class of what not to do. Just admit your mistake.”
And I’m blocked. That’s a great way to win back customers.
Just apologize. The whole world knows you screwed up. Business students will literally use you as a case study in marketing class of what not to do. Just admit your mistake. pic.twitter.com/DouGbvti1l
— The Pudy Tat (@ThePudyTat) August 14, 2023
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