Don’t End the Bud Light Boycott ｜ 12⧸19⧸23
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
156.08083
Summary
In the wake of the backlash against Budweiser, the company has a new strategy to regain its core market. It s attempting to buy its way back into the hearts and minds of conservatives by paying for influential endorsements.
Transcript
00:00:00.000
We hope you're enjoying your Air Canada flight.
00:00:10.720
Fast-free Wi-Fi means I can make dinner reservations before we land.
00:00:25.260
Wi-Fi available to Airplane members on Equipped Flight.
00:00:30.000
Conservatives are constantly complaining about the left's domination of culture,
00:00:34.040
but they rarely take the actions necessary to make a difference.
00:00:37.760
Corporate executives are acutely aware that offending progressive sensibilities can quickly end their careers,
00:00:43.140
while offending the right carries little or no consequence.
00:00:46.880
I can remember dozens of proposed conservative boycotts that folded immediately and had no effect.
00:00:53.380
That's why the Bud Light boycott was so shocking.
00:00:56.200
Anheuser-Busch suffered serious financial losses that sent its stock tumbling and its executives running for cover.
00:01:03.740
Yet the company never apologized for its actions, which centered around using a transgender influencer to promote its products.
00:01:10.720
Now Budweiser believes enough time has passed, and it's attempting to buy its way back into the hearts and minds of conservatives
00:01:21.300
Conservatives must avoid snatching defeat from the jaws of victory and hold the line against a company that holds them in contempt.
00:01:30.040
Bud Light is a brand built almost entirely on its popularity among the working class and Red America.
00:01:36.100
It's the default beer of backyard barbecues, football games, and country music concerts.
00:01:42.660
No trendy urbanite or socially conscious activist would be caught dead drinking Bud Light.
00:01:48.580
It's a cheap beer for people who are looking to have a good time and don't care about signaling their social status.
00:01:55.540
Anheuser-Busch is perfectly aware of the dynamic and has made billions of dollars by leaning into this image.
00:02:01.420
Its advertisements are not aimed at progressive college professors or New York Times readers.
00:02:09.960
While every company feels compelled to advance the progressive agenda due to the left's ideological dominance,
00:02:16.100
Anheuser-Busch was aware that its customers were not fans.
00:02:20.840
After a trans shooter killed six people, including three children, at a Christian school in Nashville earlier this year,
00:02:27.800
it would have made sense to dial back the woke propaganda and stick with endorsements from football players and country musicians.
00:02:35.540
Instead, Bud Light executives decided to slap a picture of Dylan Mulvaney on the side of their beer can.
00:02:44.720
Overnight, a beer that had once been ubiquitous in Red America suddenly became a punchline.
00:02:49.880
Guys would laugh at anyone who ordered the trans beer at the bar,
00:02:53.200
and Anheuser-Busch lost over $27 billion in market value.
00:02:57.800
Despite these incredible losses, Anheuser-Busch refused to apologize to its customers.
00:03:03.580
The company shuffled around a few marketing executives and released an empty statement about getting back to basics.
00:03:10.220
But executives knew that any sign of backpedaling would be seen as a betrayal of the progressive cause.
00:03:15.820
Bud Light started running more ads with guys in pickup trucks,
00:03:18.740
but refused to side with its customers over the woke mob, and conservatives refused to forgive.
00:03:24.560
The insincere pandering and vague statements were insufficient.
00:03:27.800
Bud Light still refuses to ask for forgiveness,
00:03:33.580
but the company has developed a new strategy to regain its core market.
00:03:38.580
In back-to-back episodes of Tucker Carlson's new show on Twitter,
00:03:43.200
Kid Rock and Dana White just happened to lead off their respective interviews
00:03:47.080
by explaining why it was time to abandon the Bud Light boycott.
00:03:51.280
Kid Rock originally helped to kick off the viral boycott
00:03:54.220
by shooting cases of Bud Light with a submachine gun and posting the videos online.
00:03:58.840
But now he wanted everyone to know that while Bud Light deserved a black eye,
00:04:06.740
UFC owner Dana White, whose company just received a $100 million sponsorship from Anheuser-Busch,
00:04:13.740
told Carlson's audience that Patriots should drink gallons of Bud Light.
00:04:20.780
What's better than a well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue?
00:04:24.720
A well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue that was carefully selected by an Instacart shopper
00:04:31.440
A well-marbled ribeye you ordered without even leaving the kiddie pool.
00:04:35.920
Whatever groceries your summer calls for, Instacart has you covered.
00:04:40.060
Download the Instacart app and enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders.
00:04:51.000
Carlson claimed that Anheuser-Busch had effectively apologized by handing the UFC $100 million,
00:04:58.920
Now I'm a fan of Carlson's work, but with all due respect, that's not an apology or a victory.
00:05:04.820
If buying Dana White and Kid Rock is all it takes to end the most effective boycott in conservative history,
00:05:12.480
When the left wins a culture war victory, the results are obvious, and conservatives should demand nothing less.
00:05:21.180
Progressives don't simply stop a behavior that they object to.
00:05:25.180
Activists ensure that the company expressly declares loyalty to progressive ideology
00:05:30.380
and makes substantive changes to its corporate culture that guarantees future compliance.
00:05:36.560
While the Mulvaney incident was particularly egregious, it was far from the first time Bud Light had gone woke.
00:05:43.300
The company had previously launched six separate pride-themed marketing campaigns,
00:05:48.440
including Cannes celebrating the use of correct pronouns.
00:05:51.760
If Anheuser-Busch can buy its way back into Red America's good graces without having to make any meaningful ideological shift,
00:05:58.620
it will return to pushing a progressive agenda as soon as the marketing department believes the coast is clear.
00:06:03.960
During the boycott, I laid out four conditions for victory.
00:06:14.340
Third, the company donates money to your patronage network.
00:06:17.720
And fourth, HR trains employees to never cross you again.
00:06:21.940
If a corporation is canceled for a marketing campaign that insults, I don't know, two-spirit trans men of color,
00:06:31.880
The company is forced to fire everyone involved with the campaign
00:06:35.580
and must hire or elevate more two-spirit trans men of color inside the organization.
00:06:41.880
Money is donated to LGBTQ charities that provide scholarships to two-spirit trans men of color,
00:06:47.680
and HR develops sensitivity training to ensure that no one ever offends that group again.
00:06:55.000
Conservatives never even got an empty apology because Anheuser-Busch is still more scared of progressives
00:07:04.020
A couple of right-of-center guys getting some advertising money is nice, but it's insufficient.
00:07:09.800
Until Anheuser-Busch issues an explicit apology and, much more importantly,
00:07:15.820
takes substantive action that signals a shift in the values advanced by the company,
00:07:28.120
If you enjoyed this video, go ahead and click like,
00:07:30.220
and if you haven't subscribed yet, now is a great time to do so.
00:07:33.660
If you'd like to get these broadcasts as podcasts,
00:07:36.120
go ahead and subscribe to The Oren McIntyre Show on your favorite podcast platform.
00:07:39.720
And when you do, make sure to leave a rating or a review.
00:07:44.920
If you'd like to follow me on Twitter or Gab or Substack,
00:07:48.560
if you'd like to watch these episodes on Rumble or Odyssey,
00:07:51.700
the links to do all of that stuff are down below in the description.
00:07:55.420
Of course, you can read all of my columns and watch all of my shows over at The Blaze.