In a sane world, Alissa Heinerscheid, vice president of marketing for Bud Light, would be out of a job following her disastrous decision to partner with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney to promote sales of a product that has appealed to working-class, ordinary, and decidedly unwoke people for generations. The move has led to a boycott and a roughly $5 billion decline in market capitalization for Anheuser-Busch, the brand’s parent company.
The stock price may very well recover and the boycott may turn out to be short-term, but it’s also possible that Heinerscheid’s poor judgment may have inflicted lasting damage on the company. Her colossal miscalculation has thrust the beer giant smack in the middle of America’s culture war leaving it in the unenviable position of having to choose between apologizing to their loyal customer base or appeasing the social justice warriors.
The company’s inability to thread this needle has resulted in further damage to the brand. Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Fraser issued a statement last week intended to calm the waters. But his unwillingness to get around to an actual apology left many of us wondering why he bothered to write it at all.
Fraser, a former Marine, prattled on about traditional American values such as freedom, hard work and respect. He wrote, “We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer.” He concluded by telling customers that he “cares deeply about this country, this company, our brands and our partners. … Moving forward, I will continue to work tirelessly to bring great beers to consumers across our nation.”
Predictably, the statement failed to satisfy those on either side of the partisan divide. Realizing he had missed his target, the company then tried to evoke “the spirit of America” in a new patriotic ad featuring their signature Clydesdale horses galloping over the fruited plains of the U.S. heartland and past iconic landmarks throughout the country. But the damage had been done. Needless to say, the company’s reluctance to take a stand, one way or the other, has managed to alienate both longtime customers and advocates of the transgender movement.
Before jumping headlong into the culture war, woke corporations need to understand that consumers have choices – especially when it comes to beer. And that there is a price to be paid for jumping on the woke train.
Budweiser executives need only look to The Walt Disney Company, whose stock price topped $197 per share two years ago and now languishes at $100 after management took a walk on the woke side. Their clientele quickly realized they could easily forgo a pricey family trip to a Disney theme park and take a pass on their “inclusive” remakes of our favorite old classics.
Dylan Mulvaney’s partnership with America’s best-selling beer brand is far from the most egregious affront to tradition and decency. But, like the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back, this moment has become so much bigger than Bud Light.
In a recent article about the “Left’s long social revolution,” The Spectator’s Adrian Wooldridge wrote that the Left is “creating a new social order based on virtue, rather than ability.” And we see it all around us.
Conservatives have allowed the insanity of the Left’s culture war to take root and flourish in America. Much of this change has come in the past two years.
In a Tuesday op-ed, Wall Street Journal columnist Gerard Baker discussed the challenges currently facing America. “If western civilization dies, put it down as a
suicide,” he noted. “We … are in the grip of an ideology that disowns our genius, denounces our success, disdains merit, elevates victimhood, embraces societal self-loathing and enforces it all in a web of exclusionary and authoritarian rules, large and small.”
Although the window of opportunity is rapidly closing, we still have time to stop them. Putting the squeeze on woke corporations is a no-brainer and something all conservatives can rally behind. Starting with actions as simple as skipping that Disney vacation or switching to a different brand of beer, we can make a difference. We will find there are many woke companies whose services we can do without.
We must stop accommodating the whims of the woke. We don’t have to pretend that men can get pregnant or that changing one’s gender is courageous and something to be celebrated. Rather than being revered, these notions should be ridiculed and rejected out of hand.
The Bud Light flap was a wakeup call. We need to take our power back. And we can start with the power of the purse.
A previous version of this article appeared in The Washington Examiner.
If you enjoyed this article, then please REPOST or SHARE with others; encourage them to follow AFNN
Truth Social: @AFNN_USA
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/afnnusa
Telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/2_-GAzcXmIRjODNh
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AfnnUsa
GETTR: https://gettr.com/user/AFNN_USA
Parler: https://parler.com/AFNNUSA
CloutHub: @AFNN_USA
I would bet a lot of money that the CEO did not write that letter. It was composed by a team of lawyers, marketing executives and likely, some crisis management firm. This is the typical BS you would get from that team.
Is it possible that we’re playing into their hands. The elites know their house of cards is about to fall, so their pulling out their money. Put options: I don’t understand them, but they make money when money is lost. We need to get money into the hands of the people so they won’t be tempted to participate in the MKULTRA BS that makes, say, a Chris Beck. That man has been through enough. He may have had the tendencies before, but he only came out as “trans” after he pointed out that he could cut 25% of the Pentagon’s budget and never have to hamstring any currently active program. That’s saying a lot. So they had to discredit him. Give people money so they don’t have to play SS to the global cabal.