Bud Light Controversy Handing Company Huge Online Boost

The backlash on social media over a partnership between Bud Light and transgender influencer and activist Dylan Mulvaney has given the beer brand one thing: attention.

Since the calls for a boycott of the beer began at the start of April, Bud Light remained silent on its social media channels for nearly two weeks before breaking that silence on Friday with fresh posts and a message from the parent company's chief executive.

The brand faced criticism after it partnered with Mulvaney, who has documented her first year of transitioning to being a woman to her more than 10 million TikTok followers. The row has crystalized a broader debate about the acceptance of transgender individuals in public life.

While many have accused Bud Light of betraying its traditional consumers, others have argued that the partnership was part of a push to expand into other markets in a bid to increase its customer base, including those who would not conventionally buy the product.

On April 2, Mulvaney posted a video to her 1.7 million Instagram followers in which she explained that Bud Light had sent her a personalized can with her face on to commemorate 365 days of being a woman.

A spokesperson for Anheuser-Busch, Bud Light's parent company, told Newsweek on April 3 that the company "works with hundreds of influencers across our brands as one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences across various demographics."

They added that the commemorative can it had given to Mulvaney "was a gift to celebrate a personal milestone and is not for sale to the general public."

News of the partnership was quickly met with backlash online, prompting the company to refrain from posting on its social media channels until Friday, when it tentatively wrote on Twitter "TGIF?" along with an image of a Bud Light can.

The seemingly innocuous post has, as of 6 a.m. ET Monday, been viewed 11.1 million times, with 25,200 replies and nearly 4,700 likes. By comparison, a similar post from February 2014 received just seven replies and 140 likes. Posts by the account featuring the hashtag #TGIF from the time all drew a handful of replies and less than 300 likes each.

Prior to the controversy, in March, tweets by Bud Light had attracted tens of thousands of views, with the occasional post being seen hundreds of thousands of times. A tweet offering the chance to "win a round of beer money" on March 24 was the last to receive over a million views before a tweet on April 2, which marked the start of a 12-day hiatus.

According to social media analytics tracker Social Blade, Bud Light's Twitter account has seen a near-4,000 follower increase in the last 30 days, a rate increase of 51.3 percent, amounting to a rise of around 1.3 percent in its following. While its following had been steadily rising since early September, the rate has sharpened in the past two weeks.

However, amid the controversy, its other social media channels have not fared so well. Figures show it has lost more than 3,500 Facebook likes in the last 30 days, and references to the brand have dropped by more than 11,600 on the platform. It has also lost 3,510 Instagram followers.

The brand's exposure has been heightened by the coverage of the controversy by major media outlets, as well as the many prominent figures who have waded into the debate.

Donald Trump Jr., Steve Bannon and Marjorie Taylor Greene are among the political faces to have made reference to the row. Celebrities Joe Rogan and Caitlyn Jenner have also weighed in, along with others who have taken sides in the discussion.

Musician Kid Rock took a gun to several cases of Bud Light in a viral video, while Kari Lake, the Trump-backed GOP candidate for Arizona Governor in 2022, said her supporters had refused to drink the beer at an open bar at a rally in Iowa.

Anheuser-Busch has taken a patriotic turn with another of its beer brands, Budweiser—seemingly in a bid to appease Bud Light's detractors—and on Friday its CEO, Brendan Whitworth, wrote in an open letter that the company "never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people."

Noting that he was "responsible for ensuring every consumer feels proud of the beer we brew," Whitworth said: "My time serving this country taught me the importance of accountability and the values upon which America was founded: freedom, hard work and respect for one another."

The partnership with Mulvaney may have paid Bud Light more dividends in terms of audience reach than it was perhaps expecting, but the controversy that has ensued could even leave the brand better off, despite Anheuser-Busch's stock market value taking a $4 billion hit in the aftermath of the controversy.

Eddie Stableford, a food and drink branding expert, previously told Newsweek that Bud Light could have the last laugh despite the furore generated by the partnership with Mulvaney: "I don't think it's necessarily true that all PR is good PR, but I think when it's on matters of principle, as indeed this is, then yes, certainly in terms of giving them appeal into territories where they're probably looking to expand what they're doing."