Budweiser , the self-declared “king of beers,” just came out with a hackneyed commercial to rule them all. (Watch the video below.)
The brand’s presumed response to conservative backlash over a Bud Light collaboration with trans TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney drowns in faux-patriotism.
One of its signature Clydesdales gallops through a 60-second pile of platitudes celebrating a “beer rooted in the heart of America, found in a community where a handshake is a sure contract.”
We see a flag-raising, the Lincoln memorial, fields of grain and an out-of-nowhere nod to 9/11.
“This is a story bigger than beer,” the narrator says. “This is the story of the American spirit.”
That’s a whole lot o’ red, white and blue to win back right-wing consumers upset just because the company made a personal commemorative can for Mulvaney, an actor and trans activist who documented her transition to a viral audience on TikTok.
Anheuser-Busch’s bland statement after the controversy didn’t help matters either.
“We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer,” CEO Brendan Whitworth said on Friday, the same day the ad appeared on Twitter.
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