Budweiser Forced to Put Its Famous Clydesdales Back in the Barn as Backlash Rages On
The backlash against Anheuser-Busch for partnering with Dylan Mulvaney for an NCAA March Madness promotion continues to grow.
Now, because of threats against the employees of a Anheuser-Busch distributor in Springfield, Missouri, the company has cancelled all scheduled appearances of the famous Budweiser Clydesdales.
Mulvaney is a relatively well-known transsexual activist who claims to believe he’s actually a woman. Anheuser-Busch produced cans with his face on it in celebration of his supposed “365th day of girlhood.”
“The local distributor, Wil Fischer Distributing, decided to cancel all Clydesdale showings in Springfield due to safety concerns for their employees,” Kellie Flynn, the Anheuser-Busch commercial manager for outstate Missouri, told KOLR.
The Clydesdales had originally been scheduled to appear at a bar called Finnegan’s Wake.
“The event was canceled due to local representatives for the distributor of Anheuser-Busch products being personally threatened while performing their everyday job duties,” a statement from the bar read, according to a separate KOLR report. “Threatening someone with a different viewpoint is completely unacceptable.
“The hate and vitriol we have recently seen are not something we tolerate or support. If you have a problem with how a company conducts its business, it is your right to not patronize their business, but it is never okay to threaten physical violence, vandalism, sabotage, etc.”
As the controversy surrounding Bud Light’s partnership with Mulvaney continues, the brand’s parent company has suffered a loss of more than $5 billion in market value.
The backlash against Anheuser-Busch began on April 1 when Mulvaney posted a video letting fans know that Bud Light had sent him a can of beer with his face on it and that he was partnering with the brand for an ad campaign.
In short order, country singers Travis Tritt and John Rich announced that they were boycotting the beer. In Rich’s case, he removed the once-popular product from his Nashville bar after customers stopped ordering it.
And the two country stars were just the beginning.
Now, nearly two weeks after Mulvaney announced his Bud Light sponsorship, it appears that the brand has been dealt a major blow.
“Since March 31, shares of Bud Light’s parent company have fallen by nearly 4% — knocking down the company’s market capitalization from $132.38 billion to $127.13 billion,” the New York Post reported Wednesday.
This was a big turnaround for the company, as Anheuser-Busch had enjoyed a six-month stock market rise that culminated in a value of $134 billion on March 31, according to Newsweek.
That trend saw an abrupt reversal starting around the time Mulvaney posted his now-infamous video.
It probably didn’t help that Anheuser-Busch exec Alissa Heinerscheid hinted that the brand needed to move beyond its current customer base and begin appealing to a more woke clientele.
And the boycott is only growing. Newsmax host Carl Higbie showed the company just what he thought of its new spokesman by using a shotgun to test the mettle of a few Bud Light cans.
Ya lost me @budlight pic.twitter.com/qXStpuaD2T
— Carl Higbie (@CarlHigbie) April 9, 2023
He was preceded by rock star Kid Rock, whose choice of firearm was a bit more dramatic.
WARNING: The following video contains images and language that some viewers will find offensive.
— KidRock (@KidRock) April 4, 2023
Since the debut of the Mulvaney ad, the company has gone dark on social media — an indication that marketing executives may be circling the wagons.
Wagons that are clearly not going to be pulled by their famous Clydesdales anytime soon, at least not in public.
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