In the latest hit to Bud Light after it ceded its neutral cultural ground and had Mulvaney do an ad and then started backtracking on that when conservative backlash grew, managing to anger both the right and left, a famous gay bar in Minneapolis has announced it’ll stop selling Bud Light
That would be The Saloon, a famous gay bar in far-left Minneapolis. Furious that Bud Light has backtracked on Mulvaney and attempted to distance itself from the now-infamous ad, it will now not sell Bud Light, joining conservative-owned bars in Nashville in boycotting the battered brand.
Such is what The Saloon’s owner, John Moore, announced. He said, “Anheuser-Busch had an opportunity to support a marginalized community in a way that few other corporations have attempted, but they abandoned that direction. We view that as unacceptable.” Continuing, Moore added that The Saloon would be replacing Bud Light with beer made by “local companies that actively support and grow the LGBTQIA+ community.” Explaining the decision, Moore also said, “I’m so protective of doing business with people who have integrity and don’t get into an anti-queer agenda.”
And it’s not just Bud Light that The Saloon is getting rid of; Michelob Ultra, Busch Light, Stella Artois, and other Anheuser-Busch InBev are gone as well. The beer brands it is replacing those with are apparently excited to be the pro-gay beers. Modist, for instance, said that it is “proud to be working with The Saloon.” Similarly, Bauhaus said it is “thrilled to announce our partnership with The Saloon for a weekend of joyous celebration.”
Continuing, it said, “We are proud to state that supporting Pride and the LGBTQ+ community aligns perfectly with our brewery’s values. We are dedicated to fostering an inclusive and diverse environment, and we are honored to contribute to the vibrant celebrations of Pride alongside The Saloon.” Bauhaus’ Matt Schwandt, the brand’s president and co-founder, added, “It’s great to see a downtown bar take that stand and go with a local brewer instead that aligns with their values.”
Bud Light, though it didn’t apologize to its former customers for the Mulvaney ad in a recent statement, it did promise that it’d do normal ads rather than Mulvaney-like ads over the summer, saying, “to all our valued consumers, we hear you. Our summer advertising launches next week, and you can look forward to Bud Light reinforcing what you’ve always loved about our brand – that it’s easy to drink and easy to enjoy.”
That statement also noted that the Mulvaney ad moved the discussion about Bud Light and other Anheuser-Busch InBev products away from their taste or other attributes and instead about wokeness and transgender policy, saying, “We recognize that over the last two months, the discussion surrounding our company and Bud Light has moved away from beer, and this has impacted our consumers, our business partners, and our employees.”
It remains to be seen if boycotts from the right or left will prove more effective in shifting Bud Light’s policy, though the boycotts from the right have so far garnered more media attention.
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