Trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney posted a video on social media today that detailed the crazy emotional toll of an ongoing campaign of intimidation and hatred from conservatives after she partnered with Bud Light to promote the beer.
In the video, Mulvaney reveals that the company didn’t reach out to her once the far-right launched ugly attacks against her, let alone support her through the backlash.
Instead, she says the company fired the two advertising execs who hired her and repeatedly tried to distance itself from the LGBTQ+ community despite courting queer consumers for decades.
Mulvaney said she’s faced “more bullying and transphobia” than she “could have ever imagined,” and that she’s been afraid to leave her home, been followed in public, and been sent thousands of hateful messages online.
“I should have made this video months ago, but I didn’t. And I was scared. And I was scared of more backlash and I felt personally guilty for what transpired,” she said. “So I patiently waited for things to get better. But surprise — they haven’t really. And I was waiting for the brand to reach out to me, but they never did.”
“And you might say, ‘But Dylan, I don’t want to get political,’” Mulvaney continued. “Babe, supporting trans people — it shouldn’t be political. There should be nothing controversial or divisive about working with us.”
Mulvaney has been documenting her transition on social media for over a year. On April 1, she posted a 50-second video to Instagram with a custom Bud Light can with her face on it. Bud Light sent her the can and sponsored the video.
No harm, no foul, right?
Wrong.
In the weeks since she posted the clip, conservatives all but lost their minds, posting videos as they dumped out Bud Light beer and shot up cases of Bud Light with semiautomatic rifles. Elected Republicans claimed that Mulvaney was a pedophile (without any evidence at all), and others said that they were boycotting Bud Light, often switching to other pro-LGBTQ+ brands.
The company’s response to the manufactured outrage enraged liberals and the queer community for its lack of support, strengthening the boycott of the famous beer brand. While it was once the most popular brand of beer in America, it has now been supplanted by Modelo, a Mexican beer that also has close ties to the queer community.
Bud Light’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBev, is a major GOP donor, with contributions from the company and employees of nearly half a million dollars in 2022 alone, despite their inclusive marketing strategy.
In a disastrous attempt to mollify the far-right, Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth has repeatedly said the company would focus on “bringing people together.”
In a CBS interview, he said that “As we move forward, you know, we want to focus on what we do best which is brewing great beer for everyone, listening to our consumers, being humble in listening to them, making sure that we do right by our employees, take care and support our partners and ultimately make an impact in the communities that we serve.”
Mulvaney, however, was not included in the support.
“I have felt a loneliness that I wouldn’t wish on anyone,” she said in the video. “For a company to hire a trans person and then not publicly stand by them is worse in my opinion than not hiring a trans person at all because it gives customers permission to be as transphobic and hateful as they want,” she said. “And the hate doesn’t end with me.”
Whitworth also would not commit to continued support for the LGBTQ+ community and justified the donations to vehemently anti-LGBTQ+ politicians who were now roasting the brand in public, saying, “We support politicians that support our business, and when we say that we talk about things like – things that work for the industry, allow us to grow the business, allow us to employ more people and really help drive the economy.”
michel_banen
Total WOKE madness. This is as much a ‘woman’ as those dressed up in RuPaul’s Drag race.
Might be fun to watch but it has NOTHING to do with biological woman; they are dressed to look like one.
KissBananaPeels
I am not going to call this person a woman…they are a transgender woman and that is the way it should be PERIOD…this cutting in front of the line of Black women and other women is JUST WRONG and does NOTHING for progress…
KissBananaPeels
Well, it is also telling that these companies KEEP using whiteness…of which this transgender woman got the job, they did not ask a Black gay man…it is ALL about whiteness and it is really telling of the systemic racism with the LGBT and greater community
GlobeTrotter
“They were marketing beer to one segment of the population.”
They committed the cardinal sin of not knowing and respecting their audience. Bud Light has been overwhelmingly loved and supported by the conservative working class for DECADES now. That’s their target audience, not young, gay and transgender liberals. They ignored their target audience whose been loyal to them all these decades, thereby deeply offending them. Their target audience reacted by transferring their loyalty to another brand – Anheuser Busch has only itself to blame here.
“They were not making statements about hating women or white privilege or even trying to offend anyone.”
But by collaborating with an individual largely perceived by their target audience as being diametrically in conflict with the core values of that target audience, Anheuser Busch caused direct offense to its loyal consumers. And those consumers reacted accordingly. This was such an unnecessary, FORCED decision for which Anheuser Busch is still paying a heavy price.
Moral of the story: Don’t piss off your loyal customers! They have a choice, you don’t!
mastik8
Judging from this article is appears that Dylan is the most offended and pissed off. Bud Light lost almost twenty seven billion dollars in value but at least Dylan has maintained her victim status.
Chrisk
GlobeTrotter
How did they ignore their loyal customers by letting a trans person advertise their beer? Are they that sensitive? Oh boo hoo.
I don’t drink bud light because I’m loyal to some other brand. I think it tastes horrible.
mastik8
True, neither do they need to appease trans activists and for the same reasons .
keyth57
Keep it perspective ? The marketing idea was intended for a certain market but she blew it with her commentary about the frat drinking guys etc quote. So, yeah, thats why the backlash, NOT undies in a bunch.The whole idea as you mention of who is a woman or not etc does affect a majority. No one cares if one dresses, has surgery to become one, each to his/her own, its the IDEA thats being crammed down peoples throats that they are now biologically the opposite.
keyth57
You’d be pissed and offended if a market targeting gays were to suddendly think it was time to drop the gay market. So, no, people were generally honestly pissed and offended in this case.