The attempt by Bud Light’s parent company Anheuser-Busch to distance itself from transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney puts the iconic American beer brand at risk of going “extinct,” according to an LGBTQ activist.
Stacey Lentz, co-owner of New York City’s historic gay and lesbian landmark Stonewall Inn, told Newsweek that Bud Light “missed an opportunity to stand by their commitment to the trans community by pandering to and giving into transphobic outcries.”
Anheuser-Busch CEO Michel Doukeris told investors on an earnings call on Thursday that the company was disavowing ties to Mulvaney.
“We need to clarify the facts that this was one can, one influencer, one post and not a campaign,” Michel Doukeris told investors during an earnings call.
Doukeris was attempting damage control after calls for a boycott of Bud Light grew in the wake of its partnership with Mulvaney.
But Lentz and other LGBTQ activists think the company failed to stand behind the transgender influencer and stick up for the community.
“As far as marketing, I hope and think they realized that as a brand they will be extinct in a few years if they are not fully on the side of equality, as that is what the Gen Z consumer expects and demands,” Lentz told Newsweek.
She said she sympathized with Mulvaney “as this whole thing was not handled well and she was caught in the middle of a horrible fire storm.”
Last month, John Casey, a contributor to the LGBTQ magazine “Advocate,” published an op-ed calling for a boycott of Bud Light for “validating trans hate.”
“Rather than come to the defense of a transgender woman, rather than defend a noble campaign that sought to reflect acceptance, and rather than let the campaign with Mulvaney speak for itself, Anheuser-Busch poured alcohol all over an extremist’s fire, and that will continue to singe our community,” Casey wrote.
The Human Rights Campaign, one of the nation’s most prominent LGBTQ advocacy groups, denounced Bud Light and Anheuser-Busch for not forcefully pushing back on the boycott calls.
“In this moment, it is absolutely critical for Anheuser-Busch to stand in solidarity with Dylan and the trans community,” Jay Brown, a senior vice president at HRC, said in a statement to Ad Age.
“However, when faced with anti-LGBTQ+ and transphobic criticism, Anheuser-Busch’s actions demonstrate a profound lack of fortitude in upholding its values of diversity, equity, and inclusion to employees, customers, shareholders and the LGBTQ+ community.”
HRC said it was “preparing to lower Anheuser-Busch’s long-standing 100 percent Corporate Equality Index score, a national benchmarking tool on corporate policies, practices and benefits relevant to LGBTQ employees” as a result of its response to the Mulvaney backlash, according to The Hill.
An LGBTQ boycott of Bud Light could be bad timing for the brand since Pride Month, which starts on June 1, is just weeks away.
Sales of Bud Light plunged 21% year-over-year during the week that ended April 22, the latest figures show.
The Post has sought comment from Anheuser-Busch.
A viral TikTok video appeared to show Red Sox fans at Fenway Park shun a concession stand whose refrigerator was stocked with cans of Bud Light.