Bud Light has unveiled a new advertisement, further distancing itself from its disastrous partnership with transgender TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney that continues to hurt sales.
The beer brand’s nostalgia-packed ad, released Thursday on Youtube, features beachgoers, fishermen and cookout attendees enjoying Bud Light beer as they weather seasonal challenges like sunburn, heat and thunderstorms. The ’70s disco hit “Good Times” by Chic provides the soundtrack for the 60-second spot.
Bud Light, which is owned by liquor giant Anheuser-Busch InBev, has disabled the video’s comment section on YouTube. The spot has racked up more than 100,000 views as of publication time.
This latest commercial follows the brand’s “Easy to Drink, Easy to Enjoy” ad that debuted during this year’s Super Bowl. The promo features actor Miles Teller from “Top Gun: Maverick” dancing in a living room with his his real-life wife, Keleigh Sperry, and their dog, Bugsy, after cracking open two cans of Bud Light.
The brand’s shift in tone comes amid ongoing backlash for its collaboration with “365 Days of Girlhood” chronicler Mulvaney for a March Madness promo earlier this year. Right-wing media and anti-trans viewers criticized the sponsored content on social media and called for a boycott of the beer. Some viewers even threatened violence against the executives behind the partnership.
The company’s attempt to distance itself from the campaign caused further backlash from the LGBTQ+ community, with some bars pulling all Anheuser-Busch products from their menu.
Bud Light sales have fallen sharply amid ongoing boycotts, dropping more than 23% for the week of April 29 compared to the year-ago period, according to data from Bump Williams Consulting. In May, the popular brand lost its title as America’s best-selling beer to Constellation Brands’ Modelo Especial. Analysts also downgraded the Anheuser-Busch’s stock.
Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth has lamented Bud Light’s marketing misstep, saying the brand “never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people” in an apology that also drew criticism from LGBTQ organizations.
