Backlash Continues After Garth Brooks Insults Bud Light Boycotters
Nearly three months after Bud Light teamed up with controversial transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney, a boycott by many consumers and bar owners continues to take a significant financial toll on parent company Anheuser-Busch’s market value.
Global Chief Marketing Officer Marcel Marcondes appeared to acknowledge the company’s error, albeit without directly apologizing for the collaboration with Mulvaney.
In times like this, when things get divisive and controversial so easily, I think it’s an important wake-up call to all of us marketers first of all to be very humble,” he said. “That’s what we’re doing, being very humble, and really reminding ourselves of what we should do best every day, which is to really understand our consumers.”
Of course, Bud Light has received some support from prominent celebrities. Country music singer Garth Brooks attracted backlash of his own after a statement he made about the bar he plans to open later this year.
“Yes, we’re going to serve every brand of beer,” he said. “We just are. It’s not our decision to make. If you come into this house, love one another.”
The real controversy stemmed from what he had to say about other bar owners, presumably those who are not selling Bud Light, and the patrons who do not want to drink it.
“If you’re an a**hole, there are plenty of other places on lower Broadway,” Brooks said, insisting that “one a**hole can turn the whole tide down there.”
Brooks’ commentary quickly drew pointed criticism on social media.
He later declared that he embraces “inclusiveness” and believes that “diversity is the answer” to current and future problems.
Comedian Rob Schneider added his voice to the debate during a Fox Nation interview, declaring that Brooks would be wise to avoid cultural controversies.
“I think next time, he’s going to stay out of it, isn’t he?” the “Saturday Night Live” alum said. “I think Garth Brooks, next time, is going to shut his mouth, and he’s going to pretend like ‘I don’t have anything to do with what beer is chosen in my restaurant. I think the culture is in a very weird little place of hypersensitivity one way or the other. And I think that’s why most people shut their mouths.”
