Read the barroom, Bud Light: Cowboys don’t want to buy a beer from a cross-dressing man.
The Cowboy State Daily conducted a small but important survey of small-town Wyoming bars following a marketing campaign featuring transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney hawking the iconic American brew.
Five out of the 12 bars surveyed reported that sales of Bud Light were down.
It should shock nobody — except the East Coast elitist who seemingly dreamed up the campaign — that cowboys in the heartland would shun the product with Mulvaney as its frontman.
Mulvaney has risen to stardom through his TikTok series “Days of Girlhood,” which chronicles his magical journey from being a man to becoming a surgically altered man in a dress (who also disturbingly acts like a little girl).
Unsurprisingly, this type of person is unappealing to the men and women who enjoy Bud Light, a brand that is as solidly blue-collar and all-American as they come.
“I hear quite a few customers talking about it. I would say a lot, actually,” said a woman who identified herself only as Lannie, the owner of The Tumbleweed in the town of Burns, Wyoming (pop. 372). “We’re a cowboy bar, so…”
Since Bud Light committed brand assassination by partnering with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney, the beer is TANKING from a massive boycott and has already taken a $7 billion loss.
What actually happened? 🧵 pic.twitter.com/ft1qYsvnvW
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) April 12, 2023
A previous survey the Cowboy State Daily conducted of bars in larger towns found no change in sales, but that doesn’t mean the brand hasn’t taken a hit.
Numbers vary, but it seems Bud Light’s parent company Anheuser-Busch has lost at least $5 billion in market value since rolling out the Mulvaney spot.
Still, a full boycott is difficult to pull off considering that Anheuser-Busch owns a bevy of other beer brands.
Only time will tell what the true fallout is, but there’s more than just market share at stake. It takes generations to build a brand identity in the minds of Americans. Advertisers spend a fortune trying to make positive impressions on up-and-coming buyers.
While spending all of this money on advertising, heavy hitters like Bud Light, Disney and Nike take for granted that they will always be household names.
They are betting that they can alienate their current customer base because younger consumers want to see “representation” of people like Mulvaney and will therefore buy their products.
The trouble is, these brands only got to where they are now via a path very different from the one they’re currently forging.
Disney was built by families spending their hard-earned dollars on wholesome entertainment. Nike was built by athletes and those of us who want to dress like one. And Bud Light appeals to young men.
These brands are counting on only the most rabid leftists — groups like drag queens and the suburban wine moms who cheer them on — to sustain their powerhouse status.
Coca-Cola once nearly lost its brand identity to New Coke — and now it seems Bud Light is destined to be another casualty of the New Woke.
