Bud Light’s been on a wild ride lately. They went from teaming up with Dylan Mulvaney, in an apparent support for the transgender community, to now hanging out with a comedian who’s stirred up some controversy with racist and homophobic jokes. It’s kinda surprising, especially since the big boss at Anheuser-Busch, Michel Doukeris, was all about staying out of political drama not too long ago.
During a chat about how the company’s doing financially, Doukeris said, “Our consumers across all sentiment groups have three points of feedback in common. One, they want to enjoy their beer without a debate. Two, they want Bud Light to focus on beer. Three, they want Bud Light to concentrate on the platforms that all consumers love, such as NFL, Fields of Honor, and music.”
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Only Advocacy is Political, Says Bud Light
But then, plot twist, they become best buds with UFC, led by Dana White, who’s tight with Donald Trump and hasn’t really stopped his UFC fighters from making transphobic and homophobic comments. One could argue that the Mulvaney relationship was the outlier, especially considering Anheuser-Busch was sending money to republican super PACs during the backlash.
And guess what? After the UFC partnership, Bud Light’s sales took a nosedive by about 26%. Ouch.
Despite all the drama, Anheuser-Busch didn’t really step in or say much, even after Strickland’s outburst. Next thing you know, they’re partnering up with Shane Gillis, a comedian who’s been in hot water before for using racist and homophobic slurs. Gillis and Bud Light seemed pretty psyched about their collab, sharing the news on Instagram with Gillis hanging out at an Anheuser-Busch brewery.
(via Variety)
Gillis, by the way, had a bit of a moment before when he was supposed to join “Saturday Night Live,” but then got kicked off when footage of his 2018 podcast resurfaced where he and the host used slurs and made racist comments about Chinese people on his podcast with fellow comedian Matt McCusker. He’s been on Joe Rogan’s podcast, sticking to his Bud Light through thick and thin, which Rogan thought was pretty “America” of him.
I guess it’s only political when you don’t use slurs according to Bud Light’s republican on-again-off-again fan-base.
Sources: Henry Herald, Variety, Clayton News Daily
