CMT Could Become the New Bud Light After 'Try That in a Small Town' Decision
There are a number of different things that historians will be able to glean from the autopsy of Bud Light’s disastrous decision to work with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
For instance, why was the Bud Light boycott so much more effective than the Target boycott (after the retail titan was blasted for an overly aggressive LGBT campaign targeting children)? After all, Bud Light continues to take a beating in the zeitgeist, while Target has largely skittered back into the shadows.
The answer to that question bodes particularly poorly for Country Music Television, which has found itself in the throes of its own potential boycott.
To wit, CMT thrust itself into the searing cultural spotlight when it banned Jason Aldean’s latest music video, “Try That in a Small Town” on July 18, over concerns that the admittedly aggressive music video was somehow racist (which it simply isn’t.)
WARNING: The following video contains language and imagery that some viewers may find disturbing
The move backfired in spectacular fashion, as the controversial music video quickly skyrocketed to the top of the U.S. iTunes charts.
Had CMT’s impeccable demonstration of the Streisand Effect simply been the start and finish of this story, perhaps the world moves on to the next major cultural touchstone.
But no, there is apparently palpable, lingering frustration with CMT’s decision, and that could mean things are about to get much worse for the music network, at least according to entrepreneur Ted Jenkin.
“When businesses decide to take these actions, they also need to be responsible for the consequences,” Jenkin told Fox News. “We saw it with Bud Light and other brands, and this could happen to CMT.”
Now, Jenkin largely attributes this to consumers being sick and tired of political agendas being stuffed into every nook and cranny of everyday life. And there’s certainly some merit to that idea.
“I think people are just saying, ‘Enough is enough. Don’t force an agenda down my throat, especially when it comes to the products I buy or the TV that I watch,’” Jenkin said.
But that’s also a bit reductive.
The reason the Bud Light boycott has been so much more devastating and effective than the Target boycott is a simple one: target audiences (no pun intended.)
Whereas retail conglomerate Target has long pandered and associated itself with the left, Bud Light has always appealed to the more blue-collar, flyover country Americans.
Now, which one of those target audiences sounds more like CMT’s?
If 100 percent of conservatives in the world boycotted Target, it probably wouldn’t have nearly the same effect as if 30 to 40 percent of conservatives boycotted Bud Light.
That math is bad news for CMT and it doesn’t take a financial expert to see that.
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