Bud Light critics have jumped in to abuse the mistreated beer brand as Dylan Mulvaney resumes regular posting after a hiatus amid the fallout.
The lager label has been struggling since its April partnership with the 26-year-old transgender influencer, which cost its parent company Anheuser-Busch about $22 billion in market value.
Bud Light’s social media teams retreated into the shadows in mid-April after backlash, and the beer giant dropped Mulvaney from its ads.
More than two months later – starting on June 22 – the brand cautiously began posting significantly more politically neutral and often faceless ads on its social media accounts.
Their posts included images of Bud Light cans in cooler boxes glowing with water droplets and a photograph of a man carrying a Bud Light bottle in his arms with part of his body visible against a bright blue sky.
More than two months later – starting on June 22 – the brand cautiously began posting significantly more politically neutral and often faceless ads on its social media accounts. Photo: Photo taken from Bud Light’s latest official ad on Twitter
The lager label has struggled since April’s partnership with Mulvaney, a 26-year-old transgender influencer, triggering a decline in sales that has cost parent company Anheuser-Busch nearly $22 billion in market capitalization to date.
Bud Light critics jump in to abuse the mistreated beer brand as Dylan Mulvaney resumes regular posting after hiatus amid fallout
This week, it shared a photo of two women wearing shorts and sandals on a beach while carrying a 24-can crate of Bud Light on Twitter with the caption ‘Summer Sundays made easy’.
Critics of the brand were quick to slam the ad, noting how the face of the ad’s leading lady is obscured by the camera angle, while her outstretched arms conceal her friend’s identity.
‘I’d rather drink piss,’ said one man, while another said: ‘Nice try’.
Speaking of the actors, one said: ‘Totally understand they’d hide their faces out of embarrassment’.
Another shared the same sentiment followed by three American flag emojis, adding: ‘Again, no face…. This should tell you something! And not yet!!!’
Many people shared edited versions of the photograph to express their displeasure, including one man who thought it looked like the women were about to tie up their bud light crates.
He added an image of a skip in front of women filled with discarded Bud Light boxes, branded with the words ‘trash only’.
Another simply added the label ‘P*** WATER’ to the image crate.
Bud Light’s April partnership with transgender influencer Mulvaney has taken the brand’s parent-company market capitalization to $22 billion so far.
Bud Light sales fell 28.5 percent in the week ended July 1, slightly lower than the brand’s 27.9 percent decline in the week ended June 24.
Critics of the beer brand were quick to condemn its social media initiative, noting how the female lead’s face in the ad is obscured by the angle of the frame, while her outstretched arm obscures her friend’s identity.
The faces of the actors depicted in recent advertisements for the lager brand are often obscured by clever camera angles, indicating a reluctance to associate with the embattled brand.
In June this year, she broke her silence on Bud Light, criticizing the company for giving transphobic customers carte blanche to be openly ‘hateful’ towards the community. Photo: Bud Light may feature a photo of Mulvaney as part of their April partnership
Bud Light partnered with California-born Mulvaney in April, when he uploaded a sponsored post for the company.
Mulvaney announced the partnership in a series of videos posted on social media to coincide with the NCAA March Madness tournament.
The influencer said the brewer sent him a beer can with his face printed on it.
‘Happy March Madness!! Just found out it was sports related and not because it’s a crazy month!’ Mulvaney wrote on Instagram.
The partnership was to honor the first full year of being an openly transgender woman.
In June this year, she broke her silence on Bud Light, criticizing the company for giving transphobic customers carte blanche to be openly ‘hateful’ towards the community.
The brand has seen a drop in sales since teaming up with the influencer, who called it a brand deal
Speaking to her 1.8 million Instagram followers, she said: ‘I was waiting for the brand to reach out to me, but they never did. I was afraid to leave my house.
‘For a company to hire a trans person and then not publicly stand by them is worse than not hiring a trans person at all.
‘Because it allows consumers to be as transphobic and hateful as they want. There should be nothing controversial or divisive about working with us.
‘I’ve been ridiculed in public, I’ve been followed and I’ve felt a loneliness I wouldn’t wish on anyone.’