Internet disagrees with Trump as he urges to give Bud Light a 'second chance' after Dylan Mulvaney fiasco

PALM BEACH, FLORIDA: Donald Trump has seemingly retracted his previous stance on the beer company Bud Light and has called for an end to the boycott against the brand initiated in response to a controversial advertising campaign featuring transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney.

The ex-POTUS, who is the GOP frontrunner for the November election, acknowledged the campaign was a "mistake of epic proportions," for which the company paid a "very big price."

Despite this, he clarified that the parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBev, was not a "woke company" while threatening to release a list of those that are.

Trump's comments come just weeks before a fundraiser organized by a prominent Republican lobbyist for the company in March, according to a report from the Daily Mail.

The event is set to be attended by dozens of members of Congress, Republican leaders, and Donald Trump Jr, the tickets of which are being sold for $10,000 each.

Donald Trump asks followers to give the 'great American brand'  Anheuser-Busch a second chance

Taking to Truth Social, Trump claimed, "Anheuser-Busch spends $700 Million a year with our GREAT Farmers, employ 65 thousand Americans, of which 1,500 are Veterans, and is a Founding Corporate Partner of Folds of Honor, which provides Scholarships for families of fallen Servicemen & Women."

"They’ve raised over $30,000,000 and given 44,000 Scholarships. Anheuser-Busch is a Great American Brand that perhaps deserves a Second Chance?" suggested the 77-year-old GOP presidential frontrunner.

He further remarked, "What do you think? Perhaps, instead, we should be going after those companies that are looking to DESTROY AMERICA!"

The recent comments made by Trump contrast sharply with his position on the raging discourse back in May 2023, wherein he criticized Bud Light's makers for catering to "the radical left."

He subsequently endorsed a conservative author's view that the advertising campaign was "a woke, clueless, incredibly dumb miscalculation."

However, Trump has since altered his previous stance, a little over a month before his scheduled meeting with Anheuser-Busch InBev lobbyist Jeff Miller, a close associate of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

He is scheduled to host a fundraiser for the presidential candidate in Washington, DC. It is pertinent to note that the corporate brewing giant paid Miller's firm $260,000 in 2023, as per Politico's report on lobbying disclosures.

Meanwhile, Trump is facing over $76 million in legal fees due to several civil and criminal trials. He was also ordered to pay $83.3 million in damages following E Jean Carroll's monumental victory in her second defamation trial against the MAGA figurehead.

Bud Light's sales seemingly dropped by 26.7 percent since the Dylan Mulvaney collaboration

Bud Light, the official beer sponsor of the NFL, has suffered declining sales since April 2023, when the Mulvaney partnership was initiated with a customized can.

The blowback to the promotion was so damaging that it cost $400 million in sales, and the beer lost its title as "America's most popular beer." Moreover, the fallout led to a series of significant declines in revenue, with double-digit drops occurring almost weekly.

The negative response was so severe that some stores apparently sold the beer for less than the price of water, resulting in a loss of $6 billion in market capital for the parent company within six days of the campaign launch.

Criticism of the company's response to the controversy continued, with some perceiving their efforts to be over-compensatory through overtly patriotic advertising.

As revenue continued to decline throughout the year, the impact was felt by Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer that produces a range of popular beers, including Budweiser, Michelob, and Stella Artois.

By August 2023, Modelo Especial had overtaken Bud Light as America's best-selling beer, and Bud Light's volume dropped by 26.7 percent. The company's chief marketing officer, Benoit Garbe, announced his resignation in November 2023, after two years in the role, amid declining sales.

Meanwhile, Mulvaney also criticized Bud Light for failing to address the controversy adequately, following the backlash. She told her Instagram followers, "I was waiting for the brand to reach out to me, but they never did. I have been scared to leave my house."

"For a company to hire a trans person and then not publicly stand by them is worse than not hiring a trans person at all," argued Mulvaney.

She asserted, "Because it gives customers permission to be as transphobic and as hateful as they want. There should be nothing controversial or divisive about working with us. I have been ridiculed in public I've been followed and I have felt a loneliness that I wouldn't wish on anyone."

Michel Doukeris, the CEO of Anheuser-Busch InBev, announced that the company is going to alter its US marketing strategy to concentrate on more traditional forms of advertising, such as college football and concerts, following the controversy.

In October 2023, the company disclosed a multiyear arrangement that would establish Bud Light as the official beer of the UFC, a mixed martial arts organization. Notably, Bud Light was one of the original sponsors of the UFC 15 years ago.

Furthermore, the beer company has revealed a $3 million scholarship project for the families of America's fallen or disabled first responders, who have been long-time partners of Anheuser-Busch.

Internet remains unimpressed with Bud Light despite Donald Trump's appeal about giving the brand a second chance

Soon after Trump made the plea about giving Anheuser-Busch InBev a second chance, netizens flocked to share their perspectives about the company since the Mulvaney controversy. 

One remarked, "That boat has sailed… The Bud Light Fiasco should serve as an example to other companies that hire credentialed tools of the left and allow them to set policies and practices."

Another said, "I’ll not be giving @budlight another chance. They RUINED their brand in the name of Leftwing Wokeness. The blame and ramifications of that decision are theirs to live with, and theirs alone."

"I’m not sold on the idea," noted a person and someone else expressed, "Even if some say Yes...the brand is damaged beyond recovery. Every place I go, no one is drinking it. I thin(k) the world of Trump but he doesn't have a say in this."

An individual expressed, "Everyone deserves a second chance if they truly show remorse, not just because of their pocketbook. Has Bud Light shown this remorse? No apology given, but they did fire the people responsible for targeting their marketing platform. Actions do matter, sometimes more than words. If I drank beer, I’d give them a second chance, but it would be the last chance." 

"If AB humbly allows their company to be an example of what happens when you go woke and what happens if you correct that, then I am willing to forgive."

"If the management had come out and offered a real acknowledgment of the screw up, perhaps some grace would have been appropriate. But they did not. No quarter for BUD LIGHT. No second chance," stated another person. 

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.