LGBTQ beer ads are old-fashioned – despite new problems for Bud Light

After more than 20 years at the top of the beer charts, Bud Light’s retail sales in the United States have taken a dive as the brand faces criticism for including a social media star who is transgender in an ad.

“This is kind of uncharted territory for a brand like this when it comes to seven weeks of sharp declines of that magnitude,” said Dave Williams, vice president of analytics for Bump Williams Consulting, which focuses on the alcoholic beverage industry.

The brand faced negative reactions in the United States since a video from early April where transgender TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney promoted the brand and held personalized commemorative cans with her face up. Some politicians and celebrities in the United States reacted angrily to brand beer with a transgender spokesperson.

While it’s impossible to directly tie the decline in Bud Light sales to a single Instagram video highlighting a trans spokesperson, Williams said Bud Light sales have been declining since April, while other brands are gaining momentum. The data is not publicly available.

Williams’ company analyzed data from Nielsen IQ and found that Bud Light sales in US stores were down more than 24 percent in the week ending June 3 compared to the previous year. The Mexican lager Modelo Especial took over the top spot from Bud Light.

“I definitely see a correlation between, you know, some of the backlash we saw online … with the recent accelerated declines in sales,” Williams said.

Williams and other industry viewers characterize the drop in sales as likely linked to conservative backlash — and ensuing fallout — over the inclusion of LGBTQ groups in an ad, even though beer companies have used gay, lesbian, bisexual and gender-diverse communities in years of marketing.

Bud Light was not “prepared” for backlash: marketer

According to a Toronto-based marketer, the backlash — and resulting drop in sales — may have caught Bud Light and its parent company AB InBev off guard.

“Bud Light has always supported queer consumers and is actually going after queer consumers,” explained Scott Knox, founder of industry group Pride in Advertising and Marketing. seem inconclusive, for both heterosexual and LGBTQ target groups.

“What that meant was they weren’t prepared and weren’t ready to deal with any backlash for being a trans artist,” said Knox.

The company’s response did not directly address or apologize for the video. But one of the executives responsible has taken leaveand the company gave one press release where it said “it was never our intention to be part of a discussion that divides people.”

LGBTQ Lawyers in the US Campaign for human rights called the company’s responses”shameful.”

For marketers like Knox, Bud Light should have taken a firmer stance after the backlash began.

While some of the customer base expressed anger in online videos, some of which contained celebrity shots Bud Light with firearmsmaybe another part of the customer base was upset about Bud Light taking a muted stance.

“When you speak to a diverse community, you have to be ready, and when there is a backlash, you double down. Otherwise, you annoy both parties…those who are part of that [diverse] community and they are part of the wider general and in this case heterosexual community,” he told CBC News.

Beer companies have been ‘casting rainbows’ for years

Alcohol companies have been marketing beer directly to LGBTQ communities for years, sponsoring events at Pride festivals across North America and advertising featuring gay, lesbian, bisexual, and gender nonconforming people.

For Syrus Marcus Ware, who teaches courses on gender and visual culture, this is a natural reflection of the fact that LGBTQ people are part of both the community and the economy.

“Having a beer company that markets directly to queers and trans people says, hey, wait a minute, we actually recognize that you exist, that you’re part of our community, we want some of your dollars, but also, you know , you exist,” said Ware, an associate professor at McMaster University.

According to Ware, ads that don’t feature gender or sexually diverse communities are exclusive, rather than a marketing catch-all.

“The problem with the idea of ​​neutrality is that we’re basically saying straight is neutral, that non-queer and non-transgender people are neutral,” Ware said.

“I think we need to shift that and change it. Queer and trans people, straight people, we’re all part of this community and this ecosystem.”

Some companies may be a little hesitant to push themselves forward in support of queer and trans communities in the future. That is concerning to me.-Syrus Marcus Ware, McMaster University

Knox is on a similar page. Marketing to gender and sexually diverse communities is not new, and from a financial standpoint it can and will pay off.

“Look, all beer is queer, and it has been for over 10 years. Brands are pouring rainbows out of pumps, cans in supermarkets and bars around the world because the dollars of the queer community are there and on the table,” Knox said .

What’s next for Bud Light?

Bud Light’s parent company also owns Labatt Breweries of Canada, which responded to questions from CBC News about future plans with an emailed statement saying it remains committed to partnerships “forged over decades” in many communities , including LGBTQ groups.

“We will continue to sponsor local Pride events as we have done for years,” the company wrote.

While sales have fallen in recent weeks, industry analysts like Dave Williams point out that Bud Light has been at the top for years and may recover once the controversy is over, given the size and reach of the brand.

Bud Light remains at the top this year as well, with more than half of 2023 to go.

“They’re king for a reason, right? They’ve got the volume behind them,” said Williams, who added that the current culture war over the inclusion of transgender people in a beer ad is detrimental to the industry.

“I don’t think it’s great for beer as a whole. Because beer is supposed to be a social drink in my mind,” he said.

Ware fears that the Bud Light controversy will cast a chill over inclusive representation in the future.

“Some companies may be a little hesitant to push themselves forward to support queer and trans communities in the future. That worries me,” he said.

However, Knox said the industry’s branding may not move away from rainbows entirely.

For example, a Molson Canadian ad that ran for a portion of the Stanley Cup playoffs featured a drag queen, although the ad only ran in Canada and not the United States. In a statement, Molson said “Beer, wine and spirits companies like ours have supported Pride for decades” and will continue to do so “for decades to come.”

As for Bud Light, Knox speculated that the company will try to find a way to keep all consumers happy when it comes to Pride marketing.

“What that means is they’ll do the basics…that’s glitter and rainbows and maybe the occasional drag queen.”