What Bud Light’s Controversy Says About Conviction Over Caution

Bud Light has been a mainstay in the headlines after backlash ensued over the brand’s partnership with the popular trans, TikTok influencer, Dylan Mulvaney, back in April. In response to the controversy, AB InBev’s North America President, Brandan Whitworth, issued a statement that backpedaled from the Mulvaney partnership—in what felt oddly reminiscent of an All Lives Matter retort—in hopes of quieting the uproar. The result, however, did not produce any inroads with its detractors and only led to the brand now alienating the LGBTQ+ community, too.

In a recent Instagram post, Mulvaney disclosed that the outrage over her partnership with Bud Light has led to ridicule and death threats. In her opinion, the lack of public support from the brand gave people permission to be transphobic and hateful with impunity. According to Mulvaney, Bud Light has not reached out to her privately either since the backlash began.

“If you don’t like what’s being said, change the conversation” are famous words from Don Draper, the fictional creative director from AMC’s highly celebrated advertising drama, Mad Men. Although the show has been off the air for eight years now, it seems as though the marketing leadership at AB InBev, the holding company for Bud Light, has taken a page from Don’s playbook.

The beer giant’s CMO, Marcel Marcondes, took the stage at this year’s Cannes Lion Festival, almost three months after the controversy began, and addressed the elephant in the room. During his talk, he offered words of optimism and introspection about the brand’s future, insisting that Bud Light would be “coming back,” and that this situation was an industry “wake-up call.”

Just days after Marcondes’ keynote, Bud Light aired a new advertisement that, in the words of Draper, “changed the conversation” from controversy to product propositions. In a montage aesthetic, the ad highlights the pain points of summer recreation and offers Bud Light as a remedy to these hyperbolic scenarios, positioning the beer as easy. It should be noted that this was the positioning that the brand introduced earlier this year in its super bowl ad starring Miles Teller, before the Mulvaney fallout ever happened—and I think that was the point. The controversy was likely perceived as a distraction for the brand, as light beer has been in decline for years prior to the boycott, and the leadership at AB-InBev probably thought, it’s time to play some offense. Bud Light has even confirmed plans to bring back its popular Bud Night character as another attempt to combat the attack on the brand.

While Bud Light’s come back remains to be seen, I can’t help but wonder what the real wake-up call for the industry might be. According to Marcondes, it’s one of caution with regard to your brand being caught in the crosshairs of division and controversy. His advice points toward bringing people together, not apart, which proves quite difficult when the opposition’s biggest point of contention in this regard is the mere existence of another group of people. That can’t be the takeaway, especially when the demonstrative acts of some of these detractors consist of using violence as a means of protest. I don’t think that’s the moral of this story at all. This is not a matter of brand caution; it’s a matter of brand conviction.

Conviction relates to the beliefs and values of a brand. I intentionally use the word conviction, not purpose, with regard to a brand’s beliefs and values because conviction denotes the act of standing firmly on said beliefs and values. It’s not enough to have them, you have to be willing to stand on them, even in the face of adversity. There are many people who want to do the right thing but applause is only reserved for those who actually do it.

When Bud Light experienced backlash from the Mulvaney partnership, the brand flinched. It didn’t stand firm with the LGBTQ+ community when its members were under attack. Or, said differently, the brand didn’t stand on its values of bringing people together—if only to share a beer—when they were challenged on the notion of who exactly was invited to come together.

That’s what makes this situation so unfortunate. Brands can espouse a set of values in their rhetoric and external marketing communications but rarely are they ever called to task to stand by their values as publicly as Bud Light has been. For instance, in the wake of George Floyd’s public execution, we saw brands jump into the discourse with full-throated pledges and commitments to the Black community, only to find empty promises and half-hearted gestures with very little evidence of support. These brands didn’t face anything as conspicuous as what Bud Light has been experiencing over the past few months. Yet, Bud Light has over a decade worth of receipts to evidence its support of the LGBTQ+ community. I know this firsthand because I personally worked on marriage equality work for Bud Light back in 2013.

Despite the goodwill Bud Light had built with this community over the years, it has lost its credibility because it didn’t stand firmly on its values. If there’s any cautionary tale, that’s the wake-up call that Bud Light—and any other contemporary marketer who aims to engage in culture and community—should be answering. If you aren’t convicted, then it’s going to be very challenging to stay committed when it’s not convenient. Although you might change the preverbal conversation, there’s no changing that human truth. Let’s see who answers that wake-up call.