Anheuser-Busch, the parent company and brewer of beleaguered beer brand Bud Light, got absolutely shredded on social media for it’s latest attempt to recover from the Dylan Mulvaney disaster.
That recovery attempt took the form of a countrified commercial. Airing during the opening round of the NFL draft, the commercial featured the typical sort of imagery (plus the now mandatory diversity found in every commercial) one would expect from a country song or music video: it featured girls in the rain drinking Bud Light underlined by Zac Brown’s song “Chicken Fried.”
Watch it and see why people hated it here:
The commercial comes as Bud Light battles a public relations nightmare of its own making, one prompted by its endorsement deal with Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender social media influencer. That deal was a step too far for many American consumers and resulted in a boycott of the brand, leading to a massive drop in sales by dollar value and volume for the brand.
In any case, people were not impressed by Bud Light’s latest attempt to recover from its Mulvaney disaster. For example, Outkick’s
Zach Dean of Outkick called the video “pure pandering,” saying, “I nearly spit out my Yuengling. You don’t get to just play one of the most American songs of my time, have a couple cowgirls run around in the rain and assume you’ve fixed everything. Don’t patronize us. We’re not dumb. We may be a little buzzed, but we’re not dumb.”
Dean likely referenced Yuengling because it is owned by a Trump supporter, and so has been the go-to beer for conservatives ditching Anheuser-Busch products.
Similarly, a commenter on social media user wrote “A commercial that shows cowboys & cowgirls at a rodeo where it’s started to pour down rain while the Zac Brown Band plays ‘Chicken Fried’ is Bud Light’s latest commercial. Real smart, piss off that demographic, then cynically try to lure them back with this. Don’t fall for it.”
Another commenter added, “Anyone else notice the Bud Light commercials on the NFL Draft are featuring ‘Chicken Fried’ by the Zac Brown Band as their background music. They’re running as far away from their branding disaster as they can!”
A third reacted, “@budlight just saw your Chicken Fried commercial. Easy to drink, Easy to enjoy, and now that you are Woke, Hard to swallow. Trying to get the Zima and Whine Cooler crowd to drink your Clydesdale piss looks to have backfired.”
The commercial was somehow even worse and less convincing than the statement released by Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth when the Bud Light boycott began. In that statement, he said:
As the CEO of a company founded in America’s heartland more than 165 years ago, I am responsible for ensuring every consumer feels proud of the beer we brew.
We’re honored to be part of the fabric of this country. Anheuser-Busch employs more than 18,000 people and our independent distributors employ an additional 47,000 valued colleagues. We have thousands of partners, millions of fans and a proud history supporting our communities, military, first responders, sports fans and hard-working Americans everywhere.
We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people.
We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer.
My time serving this country taught me the importance of accountability and the values upon which America was founded: freedom, hard work and respect for one another. As CEO of Anheuser-Busch, I am focused on building and protecting our remarkable history and heritage.
I care deeply about this country, this company, our brands and our partners. spend much of my time traveling across America, listening to and learning from our customers, distributors and others.
Moving forward, I will continue to work tirelessly to bring great beers to consumers across our nation.
"*" indicates required fields