Political commentator Tomi Lahren has said conservatives will continue to boycott Bud Light until they “acknowledge” the mistake they made after their disastrous partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
The beer brand gifted Mulvaney personalized cans featuring her face, which she advertised on April 1.
Fans of the beer erupt in anger when a boycott was declared, Kid Rock used Bud Light cans for target practice, and $5 billion was wiped from the brand’s value.
Two senior marketing executives have taken leave amid the fiasco.
Now Lahren has weighed in on the anger by saying conservatives will continue to boycott the beer until leaders “acknowledge” their mistake.
Lahren told Fox News that conservatives would continue to boycott Bud Light for working with Dylan Mulvaney
Speak against Fox newssaid the 30-year-old, “Conservative consumers are important and I think Bud Light and all the other companies are starting to realize that the hard way.
“Until they come out and actually acknowledge it, conservatives will still be upset and we won’t be drinking Bud Light — I can promise you that.”
Lahren had responded to a commercial Bud Light had launched, a clear nod to American country music and its fans, and intended to appeal to the more traditional market.
The company had to resort to disabling comments on the YouTube video after it was criticized.
Budweiser also came under fire earlier last month for a patriotic ad featuring its iconic Clydesdale horses.
The ad for the beer — which, like Bud Light, is owned by Anheuser-Busch — appeared to represent a return to traditional values for the brand, which historically appealed to American workers.
Online users again denounced the ad as a pathetic attempt to right the ship that had been permanently steered in the wrong direction with the Mulvaney partnership.
Mulvaney, 26, announced the partnership in a series of videos posted to social media in early April
Mulvaney was sent a personalized beer can to mark 365 days since her transition. Mulvaney documented her journey on TikTok and gained millions of online followers
On Sunday, Beer Business Daily reported that out-of-pocket beer sales volume — that is, the amount of beer sold outside restaurants and bars — was down 26.1 percent from a year earlier in the week ending April 22. .
Sales fell 21.1 percent last week. While competitors, Coors Light and Miller Lite, saw consumers turn to their brands as both had an increase in sales.
So far this year, Bud Light volumes are down 8 percent.
“Bud Light Blue’s shocking market share decline continued rapidly into the third week of April – and somehow got worse.
“We have never seen such a dramatic shift in national share in such a short time,” Beer Business Daily wrote on its website.
Coors Light volume was up 13.3 percent in the same period and Miller Lite was up 13.6 percent.
Some of Bud Light’s biggest rivals saw their sales increase after the backlash
Last month, Donald Trump Jr. called for an end to the Bud Light boycott in a video on his Rumble channel.
During his message, Trump Jr. the brewer’s conservative credentials and said it was wrong to “blame the entire company for the inaction or stupidity of someone in a marketing campaign that woke up like hell.”
Trump Jr said he investigated Anheuser-Busch and saw that they donated primarily to Republicans, saying his fellow conservatives sometimes “tended to shoot first and aim second.”
In the video, the former president’s son pointed to Anheuser-Busch’s support of Republicans, including Ohio Senator JD Vance and California Rep. Kevin McCarthy.
Donald Trump Jr said he felt the Bud Light boycott should end
Trump Jr. said the decision to partner with Mulvaney was reportedly made by a low-level marketing executive, rather than the senior executives.
“We looked at Anheuser-Busch’s history of political giving and lobbying. Guess what? They actually support Republicans,” Trump Jr. said.
Last cycle, their employees and their PAC gave about 60 percent to Republicans and 40 percent to Democrats. That’s literally almost unheard of in corporate America, where it’s very easy to wake up, where they do it all the time, where it has a consequence to be conservative. So 60/40 on the conservative side is quite something.”
The 45-year-old said he also respected the St. Louis-based beer company’s corporate approach.
“On the lobbying front, we looked at the bills that Anheuser-Busch was working on,” he said.
“You know what they’re focused on, guys? They have focused on taxes and trade issues that actually affect their business. They didn’t lobbied for, say, the random pet issues of the day and the nonsense and the BLM nonsense — I didn’t find that — they focused on the things that affect their work.”
The CEO, Brendan Whitworth, is a former Navy and CIA agent who has been registered as a Republican for most of his adult life.
Brendan Whitworth, 46, has been the CEO of Anheuser-Busch since July 2021. His company is now in the middle of a storm over their decision to partner with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney
Whitworth issued a public statement two weeks after the controversy
“So here’s the deal,” he said.
“Anheuser-Busch totally ruined the bed with that Dylan Mulvaney thing.
“However, I am not in favor of destroying an American and iconic company for something like this.”
He added, “When I really look at it, I’m not going to blame the entire company for the inaction or the stupidity of someone in a marketing campaign who woke up like hell.
“The company itself doesn’t participate in the same left-wing nonsense as the other big conglomerates.”
He said he likes to “go after people when they screw up,” but felt the Bud Light boycott had gone too far.
Trump Jr said he disagreed with boycotting a 170-year-old company over one mistake.
His comments echo those of Howard Stern and Joe Rogan, who both argued it was exaggerated.
The CEO, Brendan Whitworth, is a former Navy and CIA agent who has been registered as a Republican for most of his adult life.