Some Conservatives on FoxNews have complained about "cancel culture". Now here's their side cancelling Bud Light causing the company to lose $5 billion:
Beer Colossus Anheuser-Busch saw its value plummet more than $5 billion since the company announced its branding partnership with controversial transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

Since March 31, shares of Bud Light’s parent company have fallen by nearly 4% — knocking down the company’s market capitalization from $132.38 billion to $127.13 billion on Wednesday.

The company is dealing with the fallout from conservatives over its deal with Mulvaney, the 26-year-old transgender influencer with more than 10 million followers on social media.
Source: New York Post

For Debate:
1. What is your reaction to this story?
2. Are Republicans simply displaying transphobia or is there some other reason for boycotting Bud Light? Are they justifiable reasons?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Multicolored Lemur
1. What is your reaction to this story?
My reaction is that bringing politics into business is a bad idea. It will obviously hurt businesses. I don't think businesses should get involved in politics (at least not in issues that don't have to do with their company), nor do I think people should inject politics into decisions that businesses make.


2. Are Republicans simply displaying transphobia or is there some other reason for boycotting Bud Light? Are they justifiable reasons?
From what I gather, some Republicans feel that Bud Light is essentially "pushing" transgender lifestyle. One paper (lost the link but will post later if I find it) claimed that they'd want Bud Light choosing to sponsor someone that representss to a lot of beer drinkers. Even if that's the case, I think that the boycott is unwarranted. I'm sure it reveals a lot of hypocrisy because Republicans have railed against Democrats for engaging in cancel culture.

In my view, something is really wrong when people from both sides of the political aisle say it is. I think that's the one of the few standards to go by to determine that something is wrong given our highly partisan/polarized political environment.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Multicolored Lemur
reveals a lot of hypocrisy because Republicans have railed against Democrats for engaging in cancel culture.
Yes, it’s hypocritical as all get-out.

It’s like an Internet feeding frenzy. Often, a person makes friends by being against the same thing, and having colorful insults about it, etc, etc.

Look, we human beings are primarily emotional. We’re only secondarily intellectual, and usually in service to emotion! :p
 
Last edited:
And I did something similar just this past week . . .

At a sports bar where I know some of my fellow patrons are against Bud Light because I’ve heard them say so.

I ordered a Bud Light and told the bartender because I am a supporter of Transgender rights. She found this a breath of fresh air and we talked a little. And she said, This thing really brings out the homophobes.

So basically . . .

We ragged on the other side!
 
  • Like
Reactions: AgnosticBoy
Yes, it’s hypocritical as all get-out.

It’s like an Internet feeding frenzy. Often, a person makes friends by being against the same thing, and having colorful insults about it, etc, etc.

Look, we human beings are primarily emotional. We’re only secondarily intellectual, and usually in service to emotion! :p
And I still can't figure out why they are against having a transgender person involved in Bud Light Ads. Out of all of the plethora of reasons I've heard and read about, I can't find any sensible one. It's not as if Bud Light is only using a transgender person in their ads. They've used people from many different groups.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Multicolored Lemur
And I still can't figure out why they are against having a transgender person involved in Bud Light Ads.
Emotionally, because a trans-accepting commercial during a sporting event feels in-your-face. Although this is not the case with Dylan which I think is an Internet sponsorship. But overall, the LGBTQ-accepting commercials often seem to be what my fellow bar patrons object to the most.

Please note, I don’t recommend easing through so many hours in a bar as I sometimes do. :cool:

I do recommend that we model and teach to young people the skill of drinking to a light buzz and nursing a light buzz. As one more skill and one more option. I tend not to like all-or-nothing things like either alcohol abstinence or binge drinking.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AgnosticBoy
Emotionally, because a trans-accepting commercial during a sporting event feels in-your-face. Although this is not the case with Dylan which I think is an Internet sponsorship. But overall, the LGBTQ-accepting commercials often seem to be what my fellow bar patrons object to the most.
Good observation. I think this is the real reason behind the Conservatives getting upset. Some or most probably think that the LGBTQIA is being pushed, and that is happening a lot on tv programs, commercials, etc. I admit, I personally don't want to see two guys kissing on tv, but I respect their right to do as they want. If one way to resolve homophobia or to promote inclusiveness is by showing such relations on tv, then so be it. Now if it was nothing but the LGBT crowd on every program (which I doubt would ever happen), especially in conjunction with being a lack of other groups, then I'd say, okay, they are overdoing it. In the same way I don't care to see only one race or culture all the time when we're living in a country as diverse as ours (assuming you're in the US).

I ordered a Bud Light and told the bartender because I am a supporter of Transgender rights.
Too bad I'm not a beer person. I'm more of a hard liquor person... I can take a shot of Tequila or Vodka any day (known to drink a whole pint of either that stuff when I go out).
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Multicolored Lemur
Some or most probably think that the LGBTQIA is being pushed, and that is happening a lot on tv programs, commercials, etc.


June 2021:

“Football is lesbian. Football is beautiful. Football is queer. Football is life. Football is exciting. Football is culture. Football is transgender. Football is queer. Football is heart. Football is power. Football is tough. Football is bisexual. Football is strong. Football is freedom. Football is American. Football is accepting. . . ”

*******************

The NFL briefly ran this 30-second commercial back in 2021.

And even for the best of reasons, the Trevor Project and trying to prevent youth suicide, I think it felt too . . . in-your-face and abrupt maybe?
 
I'm more of a hard liquor person... I can take a shot of Tequila or Vodka any day (known to drink a whole pint of either that stuff when I go out).
within the last year, I’ve discovered mojitos.

And I’ll tell you, when I was shopping for a new car and taking Uber, I drank more than I normally did, even for a lightweight such as myself!

* On my old Prius, the main hybrid battery light was permanently on, and I felt I had to “ration” the car
 
  • Like
Reactions: AgnosticBoy
Here's some interesting information on the effect of boycotts on Bud Light:
A survey conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies on behalf of Newsweek has found that the overwhelming majority of individuals who were buying Bud Light before the controversy would continue to do so. However, it found that 12 percent of Bud Light drinkers would no longer continue to buy it, which, if translated to lost sales, would imply a serious hit to the company's revenue.

Bud Light faced calls for a boycott after sending a personalized can to Mulvaney, a transgender influencer who has promoted the beer to their millions of social media followers, to celebrate "day 365 of womanhood."

Bud Light has seen a 17 percent decline in sales revenue since the controversy began. The volume of sales declined 11 percent in the first week of the controversy, ending April 8, and 21 percent in the week ending April 15, according to figures from NielsenIQ and Bump Williams Consulting, originally cited by trade newsletter Beer Marketer's Insights.

The online poll for Newsweek was conducted on April 24, 2023, and had a sample size of 1,500 adults in the United States over the age of 18 with a 2.53 percent margin of error.

Participants were asked: "Bud Light recently hired Dylan Mulvaney, a prominent transgender person, to advertise its brand. To what extent, if at all, do you support or oppose this decision?"

Thirty-five percent of the participants said they "strongly support" the decision while 25 percent said they neither support nor oppose it and 18 percent said they support it. Fifteen percent of respondents said they strongly oppose, while 4 percent said they oppose and 3 percent said they don't know.
Source: Newsweek

Just wish they would've listed different reasons for the boycott in their poll. One obvious option might involve transphobia.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Multicolored Lemur