Anheuser-Busch distributors in rural areas are "spooked" over widespread backlash to Bud Light celebrating transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney’s "365 Days of Girlhood" with a polarizing promotion, according to trade publication Beer Business Daily.
"This is probably the biggest controversy we've seen in a long time," Beer Business Daily editor and publisher Harry Schuhmacher told Fox News Digital. "It could be a tempest in a teapot, could be temporary. But it's enough that distributors have rung the bell."
Earlier this month, the trans activist revealed that the beer company sent packs of Bud Light featuring the influencer’s face as a way to celebrate a full year of "girlhood" that Mulvaney recently reached. Mulvaney said the cans were her "most prized possession" on Instagram with a post featuring "#budlightpartner." A video then featured Mulvaney in a bathtub drinking a Bud Light beer as part of the campaign.
The announcement was met with significant criticism, with some Twitter users describing the ad campaign as the latest attempt to push gender propaganda. Many people mocked Bud Light over the partnership, conservative rocker Kid Rock used several Bud Light cases for target practice in a viral video, and there have been calls to boycott.
Beer Business Daily, which targets alcohol industry executives, retailers, distributors and other key figures, didn’t cover the story when it first caused outrage. Schuhmacher didn’t think it was newsworthy at first, noting there is always chitchat about various brands circulating online. But once the story remained firmly in zeitgeist as Passover and Easter weekend approached, and beer distributors throughout the nation expressed concern, he knew Beer Business Daily readers had an interest.
"There was a little bit of worry, especially in the South and the Midwest and especially in rural areas where retailers were reporting the, you know, their customers weren't happy with Bud Light and some retailers themselves weren't happy with Bud Light," Schuhmacher said.
"As the week went on, you know, there were questions within the industry of why Anheuser-Busch would wade into the culture wars with their largest brand," he continued. "The simple answer is that I don't think they intended to."
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Schuhmacher said the beer juggernaut sent out a "media kit" to Mulvaney, similar to other social media influencers quietly receive on a regular basis. But Mulvaney, who has a plethora of sponsorship deals and was given the opportunity to interview President Biden about LGBTQ issues, isn’t a typical social media influencer.
"She posted it on her Instagram account and then it took off from there. So, when it started affecting consumer demand is when we decided to jump in and report on it," Schuhmacher said, adding that he doesn’t have any skin in the game and simply wanted to view the situation "purely from a marketing and sales perspective."
Schuhmacher penned an entry for his publication that indicated distributors in rural areas of America are "spooked" by possible ramifications.
"Those distributors also tend to be smaller and more reliant on the Anheuser-Busch brands to pay their bills. And so, yeah, there is some concern about it," Schuhmacher said. "The controversy extended through the holiday weekend, which is a problem for [Anheuser-Busch]."
Schuhmacher believes that it’s dangerous for any major company to only market toward existing customers who might be "aging out," and Bud Light is smart for targeting Gen Z with its advertising but must be willing to accept "pain points" along the way.
"You do have to pivot to the values of a younger generation and those values don't always align, as we're seeing here, with older folks," Schuhmacher said.
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Expanding Bud Light’s potential consumers was a necessary move for the long term, but Schuhmacher feels beer makers need to be strategic when going after the next generation of beer drinkers.
"I'm not sure if this particular promotion was the best one," he said. "A group that is very happy about it is obviously Anheuser Busch’s competitor. So, Miller and Coors and distributors are doing great."
Ultimately, Schumacher has seen that product boycotts tend to be short-lived, which is something Ace of Spades agency founder Jay Jay echoed.
Jay, whose digital PR agency works with a variety of major brands and content creators, doesn’t think the negative publicity will ultimately harm Bud Light’s bottom line.
"They won't be hurt. They'll push through it. A company at that size, a company being around that long, they have enough people, part of their board in their team, to know what they're doing and why they're doing it," Jay told Fox News Digital.
"They've thought about this. They know the repercussions of what's going to happen. I think in another three months there'll be another problem with another company then everyone will be getting angry about," Jay continued. "I think they just maybe pushing the noise right now, and they are getting attention and getting awareness and I think they're going to ride the wave."
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Jay believes it all boils down to longtime Bud Light consumers being a tad baffled by the partnership.
"It's confusing to a lot of people, and for a lot of people that feel like Bud Light part of their own family because they drink it, they're part of the brand, when something new comes into this space that doesn't make sense for them, of course, they're going to be outraged," Jay said. "It's just confusing."
Jay compared the bold strategy to that of GoDaddy, a web-hosting company used primarily by the tech community that became a household name with a series of racy commercials and ads.
"It hurt GoDaddy's business at the beginning, but then they pushed through that and they attracted a new audience," Jay said. "So for me, I'm curious as a branding guy, but also as a consumer, as someone that also drinks Bud Light, What's the bigger play here? Who are they trying to attract here?"
