Last week, women’s apparel brand Anthropologie posted an advertisement to its Instagram account showing a male model wearing dresses.
It was not long before the comments were disabled after users slammed the brand for its choosing a biological male to showcase women’s clothing. Many in the comments section claimed they would never shop at Anthropologie again, indicating a boycott similar to what happened with Bud Light could happen.
The caption to the Instagram post states, To quote @theharperwatters, “Never anthro-pologize for being fabulous! Loving these #UnexpectedAndUnforgettable looks.” (Obviously, we couldn’t agree more!) Twirl to the link in bio to shop bold, beautiful dresses for every solo.”
Oh look! 👀 @Anthropologie using a male model to sell women’s clothes pic.twitter.com/sNvLHyKmit
— Caroline (@carolinecwilder) May 6, 2023
One social media user said in the disabled comments section, “Seriously? I don’t want to see a man’s bulge as he’s twirling in a dress. This is not the way to go Anthropologie. Looks like my recent purchases are going back to the store.”
“Later Antho. You should’ve learned from Budweiser,” another added. “Taking bets on how many times [Anthropologie] can silence women in one evening… First with the ad, and next disabling comments,” another user said. “You may not hear us, but we’ve certainly gotten your message loud and clear.”
“So you hired the patriarchy to sell women’s clothing then turned the comments off when we all weren’t jumping up and down in pigtails like Dylan Mulvaney over it?” one person said. “ITS DONE. STOP ERASING WOMEN. Fire the director and marketing team. Save yourselves.”
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It appears that Anthropologie did not observe the consequences Bud Light faced following the backlash from the partnership with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney. Conservatives boycotted Bud Light which led to sales plummeting this past month.
Conservative commentator Collin Rugg tweeted, “Absolutely insane. The Bud Light boycott is working. Bud Light sales (outside of restaurants and bars) are down 26.1% for the week ending in April 22nd compared to the previous year. Sales were down 21.1% for the week prior. Volumes are down 8% for the year. Coors Light and Miller Light are picking up the slack as their volume was up 13.3% percent 13.6% for the same time frame. Go woke go broke.”
Absolutely insane. The Bud Light boycott is working.
Bud Light sales (outside of restaurants and bars) are down 26.1% for the week ending in April 22nd compared to the previous year.
Sales were down 21.1% for the week prior.
Volumes are down 8% for the year.
Coors Light and… pic.twitter.com/8lM7Y0MwMT
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 2, 2023
Bud Light’s parent company Anheuser-Busch has recently tried to walk back its association with Dylan Mulvaney to perform damage control, save the company’s brand image, and repair strained relationships with distributors who have taken the financial hit from the boycotts.
CEO of Anheuser-Busch, Michel Doukeris said, “We need to continue to clarify the fact that this was one can, one influencer and one post and not a campaign… As we move forward, we have adjusted and streamlined our marketing structure so the most senior marketeers are more closely connected to every aspect of our brands.”
Anheuser-Busch also announced that the unnamed marketing agency responsible for the Dylan Mulvaney collaboration had been fired. It is unclear whether Anthropologie will face a similar boycott to Bud Light and experience a serious decline in sales. Regardless, some companies clearly did not get the message from the Bud Light controversy: go woke, go broke.
Note: featured image is screenshot from embedded video.