The NFL Draft’s main sponsor has been Bud Light, but the spotlight on the beer brand has never been hotter as it has caught flak over its partnership with Dylan Mulvaney.
Mulvaney is a transgender influencer who also scored a deal with Nike.
The Bud Light partnership has garnered tons of publicity toward the beer juggernaut, but it has hurt its pockets – according to Dow Jones Market Data Group, Anheuser-Busch has fallen 5.02% and lost $4.562 billion in market cap.
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The Pick is In logo on the video board during the first round at the 2018 NFL Draft at AT&T Stadium on April 26, 2018 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington Texas. (Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Anheuser-Busch and the NFL renewed their partnership in 2021, making Bud Light the official beer of the NFL. The deal runs through the 2026-2027 season, according to Sportico.
Country music singer John Rich said he pulled cases of Bud Light from his Nashville bar as part of a boycott.
“The customers decide. Customers are king,” Rich said Monday on “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” “I own a bar in downtown Nashville. Our No. 1 selling beer up until a few days ago was what? Bud Light. We got cases and cases and cases of it sitting back there. But in the past several days, you’re hard-pressed to find anyone ordering one. So, as a business owner, I go, ‘Hey if you aren’t ordering it, we got to put something else in here.’ At the end of the day, that’s capitalism. That’s how it works.”
Mulvaney gained prominence when given an opportunity to interview President Joe Biden about LGBTQ issues in 2022. Mulvaney revealed earlier this month that the beer company sent packs of Bud Light with her face printed on the cans as part of an ad for the beer company’s March Madness contest and as a way to celebrate a full year of “girlhood.”
A commemorative Bud Light can that features TikTok influencer Dylan Mulvaney. (Dylan Mulvaney / Instagram)
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“Anheuser-Busch works with hundreds of influencers across our brands as one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences across various demographics. From time to time we produce unique commemorative cans for fans and for brand influencers, like Dylan Mulvaney. This commemorative can was a gift to celebrate a personal milestone and is not for sale to the general public,” an Anheuser-Busch spokesperson told Fox News.
When Mulvaney partnered up with Nike, Caitlyn Jenner voiced her displeasure against the “woke” company.
“As someone that grew up in awe of what Phil Knight did, it is a shame to see such an iconic American company go so woke! We can be inclusive but not at the expense of the mass majority of people, and have some decency while being inclusive. This is an outrage,” the 1976 Olympic gold medalist tweeted.
“EQUALITY > INCLUSIVITY (STOP TRYING TO ERASE WOMEN). The differences between men and women are real and are a good thing! It doesn’t make trans ppl a bad thing, either. Why is it so black and white with the RADICAL RAINBOW MAFIA?!”
Anheuser-Busch set social media ablaze when beer juggernaut Bud Light celebrated transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney’s “365 Days of Girlhood” with a polarizing promotion. (Instagram)
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The NFL Draft will take place April 27-29 in Kansas City, more than two months after the hometown Chiefs won their second Super Bowl since 2020 and their third in franchise history.
Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.
