I’m not your Bud 🍺

It appears Kid Rock’s gun-totin’ tantrum has kicked up a storm in a beer cup. 🍺 The 90s Nu Metaller, who’s been linked to the Woodstock ‘99 toxic masculinity trainwreck, has thrown his Bud Light baby out with the beer water, boycotting all Anheuser-Busch’s (BUD - ADR) brews and taking redneck bars with him… switching to, erm, Open & Proud certified Coors (TAP). 🏳️‍🌈

While enjoying a Bud Light with a drag queen 20 years ago was just dandy, today the Trump supporter is fired up over TikToker Dylan Mulvaney’s March Madness partnership with the ‘frat pack’ beer brand. 🤬 And it seems the weathered GenXer’s not the only one rattled. Much like Bud Light’s sales decline, the brand’s public face appeared to retreat. Yet despite the Bud snub, Anheuser-Busch’s stock has fallen just 2.8% since Mr Rock’s antics.

While the backflipping Bud brewer faced an entirely different backlash in 2021 - for donating to anti-trans legislators - it’s not Mulvaney's first time in the firing line. Following her Nike (NKE) activewear endorsement this April - which caused Caitlyn Jenner to kick up a stink - the sports mega brand came to the influencer’s defence in social media. Seems no bother for investors however, as the company’s stock flexed up 6.6% since her post. 💪

Despite the fringe cultural clash in the US, inclusivity could actually be good for business. According to TIME, the LGBTIQ+ dollar is worth US$3.7 trillion, and in a 2020 Procter & Gamble (PG) poll, 75% of respondents said they were comfortable seeing LGBTQ representation in ads. 

Other progressive brands unafraid to wade into transphobic waters include Hershey (HSY) with their ‘Her for She’ 2023 International Women’s Day campaign and Adidas’ #ImpossibleIsNothing, M&M introducing their Purple spokescandy in 2022, Brown-Forman-owned (BF.A, BF.B) Jack Daniels’ Drag Queen Camp 2021, Citigroup’s (C) 2020 ‘True Name’ Mastercard (MA), and in 2019, Procter & Gamble’s Pantene and Gillette campaigns. So perhaps instead of bubbling up over other people’s lives, maybe just enjoy the damn beer. 🍻