Kid Rock Protests Bud Light's Partnership with Trans Influencer Dylan Mulvaney
Kid Rock, the 52-year-old musician, has taken a strong stand against his once-favorite beer, Bud Light, after the brand partnered with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney. The right-wing rapper, whose real name is Robert James Ritchie, posted a video of himself shooting Bud Light cases with a semiautomatic rifle, exclaiming, "F**k Bud Light!"
Kid Rock's discontent was directed at Anheuser-Busch, Bud Light's parent company, for choosing Mulvaney as the face of the brew. The rapper's actions have sparked mixed reactions, with some consumers supporting the partnership as a progressive move, while others are boycotting the beer in protest of what they perceive as "gender propaganda."
Dylan Mulvaney, a 26-year-old influencer and content creator with over 10 million TikTok followers, has lived as a woman for the past year. Anheuser-Busch released a commemorative can featuring her face to celebrate her first anniversary of gender transition, though it is not available for sale to the public.
The company stands by Mulvaney, stating, "From time to time, we produce unique commemorative cans for fans and for brand influencers, like Dylan Mulvaney. This commemorative can was a gift."
Kid Rock's reaction has been both supported and criticized. One social media user wrote, "Is anyone else confused why Bud Light put a man pretending to be a female on a can?!?!?!? They forgot who their target audience is!! Go woke, go broke."
Several artists, including Travis Tritt and John Rich, have followed Kid Rock's lead by boycotting Anheuser-Busch products. Tritt announced he would be "deleting all Anheuser-Busch products from my tour hospitality rider," while Rich indicated he would remove Bud Light from his Nashville restaurant, Redneck Riviera.
However, boycotting Budweiser and its associated brands, including Bud Light, Busch, Corona, Modelo, Natural Light, Stella Artois, and Michelob, is challenging due to the company's widespread presence in venues and bars. Chris Bigelow, president of Bigelow Consulting, explained that artists have little power to demand a venue remove Anheuser-Busch products during their shows.
Despite the ongoing controversy, boycotts are unlikely to significantly impact Anheuser-Busch, as the company owns a vast array of brands and has a strong market presence. Neil Reid, a professor at the University of Toledo known as the "Beer Professor," explained that while such boycotts may garner media attention, they rarely result in lasting change in consumers' drinking habits.