Leading US beer brand Bud Light seems to be trying to win back the hearts of its conservative customers with a charity project!
Angry customers of brewing company Anheuser-Busch’s products boycotted the alcoholic beverage over their collaboration with Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender influencer. Months after the backlash, the organization announced its plan to support the families of fallen heroes.
Bud Light Moves To Support First Families Of War Veterans & People With Disabilities
The beer brand recently launched a $3 million scholarship for spouses and children of American veterans who are deceased or disabled first responders. The product’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch, will provide the funds with its long-time charity partner, Folds of Honor.
The collaborative project, which includes the NFL, has begun collecting applications and will close on November 26. The liquor company’s heartwarming gesture comes months after its sales slumped by 30 percent after anti-LGBTQ consumers boycotted the brand in April.
These conservative customers, including celebrities like Kid Rock, were unhappy with Bud Light’s partnership with Mulvaney. However, the beer brand’s controversy worsened when it abruptly cut ties with the transgender activist amid criticism.
The company’s actions sparked an angry reaction from former employees, who accused executives of “cowards” for refusing to back Mulvaney. Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth seems eager to ignore the drama because he failed to address it in his statement about the $3 million scholarship. In the words of a businessman:
“Anheuser-Busch is proud to be a founding partner of Folds of Honor as we continue our 13-year mission to make a powerful impact on the lives of families of military veterans and first responders.”
“Together with the NFL, we stand firm in our commitment to support our local communities and serve those we serve,” Whitworth concluded. Bud Light’s VP of Marketing, Todd Allen, echoed similar sentiments about the project, adding:
“Every moment across the country, first responders are performing selfless acts of heroism with an unwavering commitment to their communities and their country.”
“That’s why Bud Light is proud to join the NFL and its network of teams and communities across the country to support Folds of Honor by recognizing the first responders behind these actions and helping their families who have sacrificed so much,” Allen said.
The spirits maker’s ultimate goal with the charity project appears to be targeting their conservative customers, who have accused the brand of pushing away their traditional customers for the LGBTQ community, per Daily Mail.
As noted, the company responded to the boycott by terminating its contract with Mulvaney. In addition, two executives responsible for the partnership – Alissa Heinerscheid and Daniel Blake – were placed on leave in April. This move, alongside Bud Light’s new scholarship project, may help the beer brand regain its lost customers.
Dylan Mulvaney Reveals He Faced Backlash Without Any Intervention From Bud Light
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Months before the Bud Light scholarship announcement, Mulvaney opened up about the end of his partnership with the alcoholic beverage company. The transgender influencer revealed that the beer brand never contacted her after her controversial post.
In April, the 26-year-old promoted the beer brand in an Instagram video, showing off a can designed with his face on it. Still, the PR moment left a bitter taste in the mouths of conservative customers. Responding to backlash in a TikTok video, Mulvaney sipped a beer to prove he had consumed alcohol.
“One thing I will not tolerate people saying about me is that I don’t like beer because I like beer, and I always have,” the media personality explained, noting that he built his platform of loyal followers on honesty.
“I took a brand deal with a company I liked, and I posted a sponsored video to my page. And it must have been a slow news week because the way these ads were blowing up, you’d think I was on a billboard or a TV commercial or something important but, no, it’s just an Instagram video,” the transgender activist complained.
“I brought it up because what came out of that video was more bullying and transphobia than I could have imagined,” Mulvaney continued, admitting that he didn’t make the video months earlier to avoid more backlash.
“And for months now, I’ve been afraid to leave my house, I’ve been mocked in public, I’ve been followed, and I’ve felt a loneliness that I wouldn’t wish on anyone,” the entertainer previously said. disparaged Bud Light’s reaction to the controversy.
“For a company to hire trans people and then not publicly support them is worse, in my opinion, than not hiring trans people,” Mulvaney declared, emphasizing that their actions allow others to be “transphobic and hateful.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
