Anheuser-Busch, the US’s largest beer maker, has recently been embroiled in a public relations dilemma following their collaboration with transgender TikTok and media influencer, Dylan Mulvaney. Mulvaney’s image was used on Bud Light cans to commemorate her one-year of “girlhood,” which many people and distributors deemed problematic.
In the middle of the scandal, and after a stretch of noticeable silence, Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth has spoken out, emphasizing the company’s commitment to transparency and responsibility. Whitworth detailed the steps Anheuser-Busch is taking to ‘uphold their obligation to America and their consumers’ in a statement posted on the company’s website.
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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.
VISIT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNELMy 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. I 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.
The company’s choice to put Mulvaney’s face on Bud Light packaging to commemorate her first year of “girlhood” has prompted serious concerns about the company’s devotion to traditional values and its responsibility to consumers. Many hope they end up with the expected result of when you go woke you go broke. Yes, it’s that controversial.
The incident underlines the risk of corporations using their clout to advance political or social objectives that are at odds with the values of their customers. Companies should prioritize offering high-quality products and services to their customers over divisive or contentious marketing strategies.
We are at this place now where corporations chime in by taking sides in a culture war for the soul of American society, and they usually cave to take the side of leftists who do not support the traditional values of America and American life. This is so because boneheaded and frightened corporate executives fall for the threats of boycotts against their companies and products or services offered by a minuscule number of people who are able to use the internet to make it appear they are millions in numbers.
My advice to corporations who are put on the spot by lefties is to go with your American gut each and every time. The backlash Anheuser-Busch has received over the Mulvaney project is proof positive that the company, which was an American company but is no more – it is now officially called Anheuser-Busch InBev, and its headquarters is now located in Belgium – should relearn the culture and customers of America. Yes, even though America is a melting pot of diverse cultures, the land of the free and home of the brave has its own American culture, and corporations, thanks to siding with the lefties who despise American culture, they are learning that the hard way. The company was a great American enterprise. Just go on YouTube and look for their classic videos, which were always pro-American. Some of them will bring joyous tears to your eyes, begging the question, what happened to them? Wokeism, that’s what happened.
Even the phony fact-checkers are admitting that Anheuser-Busch has lost at least $4 billion in value since the day the Dylan Mulvaney ad was first published.
The collaboration of Anheuser-Busch and Dylan Mulvaney is a disturbing symptom of the decline of conventional American values and the influence of radical woke ideology. Consumers and shareholders will be watching the company’s response to the situation carefully, as it will have substantial ramifications for its reputation and long-term performance.
It is my opinion that had the CEO come out and said that they made a mistake by not remembering who their core audience is, it would have gone a long way. But he didn’t do that. When Whitworth wrote, “We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer,” that was a lie. You have to be living in a cave to not know that the transgender war on American values will never be rectified because Americans see the movement as an assault on the country and culture they love. Until the company recognizes that and attempts to rectify the situation with honesty, I don’t see them getting out of the spiral of when you go woke you go broke.