Country Star Travis Tritt Axes Bud Light from Tour Over Trans Can, Puts Another Famous Alcohol Brand on Notice
Country music star Travis Tritt is leaving Bud Light in the dust.
“I will be deleting all Anheuser-Busch products from my tour hospitality rider,” Tritt said Wednesday on Twitter. “I know many other artists who are doing the same.”
I will be deleting all Anheuser-Busch products from my tour hospitality rider. I know many other artists who are doing the same.
— Travis Tritt (@Travistritt) April 5, 2023
His announcement came amid a growing reaction against brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev for its partnership with transgender TikTok influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
As part of its marketing for the recent NCAA basketball tournament, the company decided to enlist Mulvaney to sell its Bud Light, putting his smiling face on a can as part of a contest promotion.
I don’t drink, but occasionally have beer in my house to serve to guests, but I will no longer have any bud light or Budweiser corporation owned beers in my house. This has gone too far. pic.twitter.com/FML65F8dRW
— Noah B. (@tundrafan76) April 1, 2023
Despite a fierce backlash from customers that included calls for a boycott, Anheuser-Busch — a once-iconic family of American brands now under the banner of a Belgian multinational conglomerate — stood by Mulvaney.
NBC News quoted a representative as saying the company “works with hundreds of influencers across our brands as one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences across various demographics.”
Tritt said he was not alone in cutting ties with its products.
“Other artists who are deleting Anheuser-Busch products from their hospitality rider might not say so in public for fear of being ridiculed and cancelled. I have no such fear,” he wrote.
Other artists who are deleting Anheuser-Busch products from their hospitality rider might not say so in public for fear of being ridiculed and cancelled. I have no such fear. https://t.co/YgjO9P03tR
— Travis Tritt (@Travistritt) April 6, 2023
“In full disclosure, I was on a tour sponsored by Budweiser in the 90’s,” Tritt said. “That was when Anheuser-Busch was American owned. A great American company that later sold out to the Europeans and became unrecognizable to the American consumer. Such a shame.”
In full disclosure, I was on a tour sponsored by Budweiser in the 90’s. That was when Anheuser-Busch was American owned. A great American company that later sold out to the Europeans and became unrecognizable to the American consumer. Such a shame.
— Travis Tritt (@Travistritt) April 6, 2023
As Tritt noted, Anheuser-Busch owns a multitude of beer brands, including Budweiser, Busch, Michelob Ultra, Natural Light, Shocktop, Stella Artois and even a slate of “craft” breweries.
The country star didn’t stop at calling out the beer conglomerate, telling followers to “take note” of U.S. whiskey maker Jack Daniels’ embrace of drag queens.
All the @JackDaniels_US drinkers should take note. pic.twitter.com/W0d9lMoSxq
— Travis Tritt (@Travistritt) April 6, 2023
Kid Rock joined Tritt in showing his contempt for Anheuser-Busch — tweeting a video showing him shooting a stack of Bud Light products.
— KidRock (@KidRock) April 4, 2023
“Grandpa’s feeling a little frisky today,” he said in the video.
Gareth Boyd, marketing and public relations director at Forte Analytica, said trying to tap a new audience is one thing, but the Bud Light approach with Mulvaney is “not the right way to go about it,” according to the U.K.’s Daily Mail.
“I really cannot understand their approach for this because their core audience just cannot relate,” he said.
“Cutting your core audience in the hope you can draw a completely new audience in, who haven’t been exposed before, doesn’t make sense,” Boyd said.
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