Before the Dylan Mulvaney controversy, Bud Light would have done well to remember these three words: “Money does talk.” If enough Americans weren’t already reminding them of this fact, former president Donald Trump joined the fray over the weekend.
Trump broke his silence on the matter via his platform Truth Social, writing that it is “time to beat the Radical Left at its own game” by boycotting (and buy-cotting) companies that adopt political stances based on where they fall.
Trump used the occasion to connect to a book by conservative radio personality and Trump supporter Wayne Allyn Root titled “The Great Patriot Buy-cott Book: The Great Conservative Companies to Buy From & Invest In.”
“It’s time to beat the Radical Left at their own game,” Trump said.
“Money does talk—Anheuser-Busch now understands that.”
Trump had previously remained mute regarding the boycott of America’s most popular beverage brand.
RealClearPolitics reported on April 18 that the boycott, which began following the company’s “woke” social media campaign featuring transgender “influencer” Dylan Mulvaney, “may also soon be a litmus in the divide between the GOP establishment and social conservatives ahead of a contentious presidential primary.
“Several candidates tell RealClearPolitics they back the boycott. Nikki Haley, for instance, said the Bud Light campaign ‘makes a mockery of women.’ Others in the GOP wish the controversy would just go away already.”
Donald Trump Jr. had spoken out against the boycott two days earlier, citing Anheuser-Busch InBev’s history of conservative political donations and conceding the company had “s*** the bed” with the Mulvaney campaign.
An insider hypothesized that the former president’s silence was due to his ownership of up to $5 million in Anheuser-Busch stock. However, that is essentially pocket change for the billionaire, regardless of how much money he may have lost during his presidency.
In any event, the boycott is not going away soon, and it is having an effect.
The week of April 22 saw a staggering 21 percent decline in retail sales of Bud Light, with other light beers taking up the burden. It’s terrible enough that, according to a May 2 Wall Street Journal report, Anheuser-Busch gave Bud Light cases to distributor employees.
Free cases are not necessarily going to benefit the product in the short term when there is a segment of consumers to whom Bud Light cannot be given away. The company is wagering that this is a temporary issue, but Bud Light has become a symbol for progressive corporate policies that are hopelessly out of touch with a company’s customer base.
And now, naturally, the company is facing backlash from the opposing side, as LGBT-aligned institutions target the brand for abandoning Mulvaney. According to reports, a number of homosexual bars in Chicago refuse to stock Anheuser-Busch InBev’s beverages, and other gay bar proprietors have expressed displeasure with the company.
Obviously, all of this could have been avoided if the team behind the Mulvaney advertisement had decided not to engage in politics at all, but this is a concept foreign to many companies in 2023; the question is not if they will go awakened, but when and how.
However, despite one’s best efforts, one concept remains unmovable: money and the profit motive. Anheuser-Busch InBev and its executives have been urgently attempting to talk/advertise their way out of this mess, proving that Trump is correct. A brief sample of the pandering:
— Anheuser-Busch (@AnheuserBusch) April 14, 2023
— Budweiser (@budweiserusa) April 14, 2023
Now, the CEO of Anheuser-Busch claims that the boycott surrounding the Mulvaney advertisement was based on “misinformation,” telling investors on an earnings call last week that “this was one can, one influencer, one post and not a campaign.”
With the boycott lasting almost a month, it was beneficial for him to ultimately clarify the situation. I suppose he neglected to mention it previously.
The Americans have made Anheuser-Busch comprehend these three words: “Money does talk.”
The former president, a successful industrialist, also fully comprehends this principle. You can guarantee that many executives in the audience now have a greater understanding of how this principle operates.
Perhaps they will know enough about politics to at the very least keep their lips sealed.