Behind the Bud Light backlash
For Budweiser InBev, the aftermath of a marketing promotion involving Bud Light and transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney lingers like a bad hangover.
Here’s how it started.
In early April, Bud Light gave a handful of beers to an Internet celebrity named Dylan Mulvaney. Mulvaney, in turn, posted a video of her dressed like Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany’s celebrating March Madness and her first year of adulthood with said beer. One of the cans bears her headshot. It was part of a paid sponsorship deal and some sort of sweepstakes challenge promotion where people could win $15,000 from Bud Light by sending in videos of themselves carrying lots of beer. When the video was sent out, it was met with strong opposition. Conservatives and others have called for a boycott of Bud Light, while Mulvaney’s supporters have criticized the beer brand for not doing enough to support her.For the month ending July 15, Bud Light sales in the U.S. fell 26.5 percent.
Could Bud Light have avoided this?
In my opinion, Bud Light could have prevented this. As we all know, transgender issues are currently front and center in America’s culture wars. While I understand Bud Light’s desire to use this campaign to showcase the inclusivity of the Bud Light brand as a way to expand its reach and capture more markets, it is clear that in a society where transgenderism is a growing issue, Bud Light can’t afford to have it both ways.
What caused this crisis?
I think there are more reasons than just the brand. First of all, Bud Light wanted to expand the brand’s reach by partnering with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, an event they thought would win over the LGBTQ+ community to attract more potential consumers. In fact, Bud Light probably didn’t realize that the campaign would generate a huge response not only in the LGBTQ+ community but also in the anti-LGBTQ+ community, and that the impact of the opposition would be much greater than Bud Light had expected. On the other hand, the transgender issue was also a major factor affecting the crisis. In this case, several famous musicians have added fuel to the fire, potentially making the situation even more disastrous for Bud Light. Country musicians including Kid Rock and Travis Tritt have drawn attention to the Bud Light controversy and have launched boycotts. Any corporate campaign that relates to these issues is bound to cause resentment from both groups, and it is difficult for corporations to satisfy both sides in such campaigns.
How Budweiser Light responded to this crisis
Bud Light waited too long to resolve the controversy. While the most-read articles focused on the brand’s social media silence, executive apologies, and free beer promotions, Bud Light owner Anheuser-Busch’s response also attracted a large number of readers.On April 14, Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth published an open letter titled “Our Responsibility to America.” In the letter, Whitworth responded to the social media outcry by stating, “It was never our intention to engage in discussions that divide people. Our mission is to bring people together through beer.” Bud Light then launched a new advertising campaign to reverse the decline in sales.
How Bud Light handled the crisis
After this problem materialized, Bud Light’s response took two weeks, indicating that they suffered severe consequences for their crisis management.By the end of April, sales of Bud Light had decreased 20%. Anheuser-Busch lost $5 billion in market share during that decline. In response, Anheuser-Busch played down its partnership with Mulvaney and announced the absence of two marketing professionals. However, further boycotts resulted from this retreat.
Viewpoint
In my opinion, when a brand has a crisis, a quick response and handling of the social media crisis plays a crucial role in protecting the brand image of the organization. The longer it takes the more it will cause consumer dissatisfaction and thus further damage to the brand image. In addition, brands should take a stand and provide a solution at the first sign of a crisis, as evidenced by the consumers’ reaction, they were not satisfied with the way Bud Light handled the crisis. Lastly, before launching any promotional campaigns, companies should fully consider any possibilities that the campaign may cause, and how they should respond positively to minimize the damage if something goes wrong.
