March Madness and binge drinking have long been a dynamic duo in college sports, so it’s hardly surprising that a major beer brand would want to partner with a powerful social media influencer to get people talking about their beer. It’s a simple equation that has found success time and again in our TikTok-powered world. But as John Oliver explained, Bud Light didn’t trust the extreme anti-trans backlash that followed his brand partnership with trans TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney.
on Sunday’s episode Last Week Tonight With John Oliverthe host, Oliver, “the beer you give a child to drink to teach a lesson” and “to the beer that asks the question: Are we allowed to call cat urine beer?””
“But people on the right definitely lost their shit about it because Bud Light partnered with a trans woman,” Oliver explained. “There have been calls for boycotts and this incredibly stupid video from Kid Rock.”
Oliver had the opportunity to examine Kid Rock’s video as if it were a Zapruder movie, and speculated about how many shooters might have been involved to produce the intended outcome of “Child Rock”. As Oliver wrote down these silly tricks just like that, he didn’t shy away from the “disgust” that such reactions take root.
“This is part of a general moral panic about trans rights, and also comes with a series of bills to ban gender-affirming care for children and, in some states, adults. And infuriatingly, Anheuser-Busch’s response to this ugliness was to cast doubt on him. “We never intended to be part of a divisive debate,” its CEO said. We’re in the business of bringing people together over a beer.’ Of course. Still, technically it’s more like fizzy water in a dog’s mouth than beer.
Ultimately, Oliver concluded: “It’s pretty annoying to do something on both sides that says, ‘I’m trans,’ and ‘This pisses me off, I’m going to drink $65 worth of non-refundable beer’.”
Even more surprising, however, may be the ad that the company quickly put together to appease its drunk drinkers in a completely incomprehensible way.
Oliver described the ad as a “big misfire” for one very specific reason: “When tired people loudly declare that they don’t like your beer because they’re bigoted, it’s an opportunity to say, ‘Then our beer isn’t for you.’ If you’re going to relax with stock footage and, frankly, distractingly good horses, why not at least? Really Let me see you?”