Just one year ago, the image of Kid Rock enjoying a country concert while proudly brandishing a metallic blue can of Bud Light might’ve been viewed as an archetypal slice of Americana.
Today, that very same image is triggering all manner of consternation, alarm, confusion and anger.
Why the big difference?
Well, simply put, Kid Rock became the inaugural “face” of the Bud Light boycotts that have taken a catastrophic toll on parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev and thoroughly damaged the brand overall.
An (in?)famous social media video that Kid Rock posted in response to Bud Light partnering with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney went viral after the musician took a gun and shot at several cases of Bud Light.
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Once satisfied with his handiwork, Kid Rock turned back to the camera and gave a few choice expletives for Bud Light and its parent company.
It was a jarring and aggressive video, to be sure. And, again, it clearly worked, given the way Bud Light is languishing … but was it all just performance art?
Because, fast forward just a scant four months, and here’s Kid Rock in a wildly different video with, again, a Bud Light product:
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Should Kid Rock apologize for supporting Bud Light?
Yes: 71% (15 Votes)
No: 29% (6 Votes)
According to TMZ, that video clip came from Nashville on just Thursday.
In it, you can clearly see a relaxed Kid Rock taking in a concert by country star Colt Ford at the world-famous “Skydeck on Broadway.” It’s a totally innocuous video — until you zoom in on Kid Rock’s hand and see a blue can of Bud Light.
That’s a stark difference four months can make.
There are a couple of lessons and notes to glean from this apparent “betrayal” of a Kid Rock video.
First, and perhaps foremost, it’s not a good look. It certainly doesn’t highlight any courage or conviction.
Second, this whole controversy highlights how important it is that people, and conservatives in particular, quit believing the world-famous celebrity who’s telling them everything they want to hear.
There’s probably a reason (and, oh, a dozen ulterior motives) that the Hollywood spawn is telling you these saccharine half-truths.
Third, by that same token, Kid Rock certainly deserves grace. Who knows the exact context of this video?
The first point still stands — this is a bad look. But a 70-second clip is not exactly a full-throated endorsement.
Finally, and this can’t be stressed enough, who cares?
Whether the man whose government name is Robert James Ritchie is a die-hard patriot or a leftist traitor, it doesn’t take away from the fact that conservatives just showed corporate America (and make no mistake, Anheuser-Busch InBev is corporate) that their voices and wallets matter in an increasingly leftist world.
The very same people that most of corporate America sneers at and looks down on just made an iconic beer brand buckle and fall to its knees. That’s some real (and terrifying, if you’re a corporate executive) power.
Kid Rock blowing up cans of Bud Light with live ammunition should be a footnote in that story — not the highlight.
Look, there’s mounting evidence that Kid Rock has made nice with Bud Light after that April social media video.
That would be disappointing, if ever confirmed, but here’s another positive way to spin it for conservatives: Even with Kid Rock’s tacit re-approval of the embattled beer brand, it hasn’t helped. Bud Light is grievously wounded. Period.
So, yes. There’s some evidence now that Kid Rock was, and has been, a false voice for the voiceless, and that does kind of stink.
But looking at the wreckage left in the aftermath of Bud Light’s brief dabbling with transgender activism, it’s pretty clear that the voiceless are doing just fine on their own.
