Anheuser-Busch distributors in rural areas of the Heartland and South have been left “spooked” by widespread backlash following Bud Light’s polarizing promotion celebrating transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney’s “365 Days of Girlhood,” according to trade publication Beer Business Daily.

The beer company sent packs of Bud Light featuring Mulvaney’s face to commemorate a full year of “girlhood.”

Mulvaney declared the cans her “most prized possession” in an Instagram post using the hashtag “#budlightpartner.” A video then showed Mulvaney in a bathtub drinking Bud Light as part of the campaign.

The announcement met significant criticism, with some Twitter users labeling the ad campaign as an attempt to push gender propaganda.

Many mocked Bud Light over the partnership, with conservative rocker Kid Rock using several Bud Light cases for target practice in a viral video.

Calls to boycott the beer brand have also emerged.

Beer Business Daily, a beer industry trade publication, sought to analyze the situation “purely from a marketing and sales perspective,” without focusing on political and social ramifications.

The publication acknowledged Mulvaney’s over one billion TikTok views and her Gen Z-dominated fanbase, a demographic beer companies are “desperate” to reach.

According to the publication, “a handful of A-B [Anheuser-Busch] distributors were spooked, most particularly in the Heartland and the South, and even then in their more rural areas.”

Short-term data is limited, but Beer Business Daily reported that “it appears likely Bud Light took a volume hit in some markets over the holiday weekend,” with rural customers most likely to celebrate Easter.

The publication speculated on whether the publicity would spark incremental off-setting demand from those on the other side of the ideological divide in metro areas.

The author of the piece lamented, “I’ve never seen the country so hotly divided, sadly.”

Beer Business Daily charges $890 per year for access to its “inside scoop of the beer industry,” catering to top distributors, brewery executives, retailers, and allied advertising and legal professionals in the trade.

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Anheuser-Busch has stood by its polarizing decision, stating, “Anheuser-Busch works with hundreds of influencers across our brands as one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences across various demographics… This commemorative can was a gift to celebrate a personal milestone and is not for sale to the general public.”

Bud Light Vice President Alissa Heinerscheid appeared on the podcast “Make Yourself At Home” and discussed her efforts to transform the Bud Light brand, aiming to replace the “fratty” and “out of touch” humor with inclusivity.

Heinerscheid said, “I’m a businesswoman, I had a really clear job to do when I took over Bud Light, and it was ‘This brand is in decline, it’s been in a decline for a really long time, and if we do not attract young drinkers to come and drink this brand there will be no future for Bud Light.'”

In a previous interview with Forbes, Heinerscheid expressed her personal passion for “female representation.”