It has been nearly two weeks now since Bud Light decided to shove transgender madness down our throats by featuring fake woman Dylan Mulvaney in its advertising, and only on Friday did Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth emerge from his bunker and offer a statement to try to tamp down the controversy. But in this hour of crisis for his company, which has lost $6 billion and counting in market value since Mulvaney became the Queen of Bud Light, Whitworth tried to satisfy everyone, and will only end up satisfying no one at all.
Most of Whitworth’s statement was just blather. “As the CEO of a company founded in America’s heartland more than 165 years ago,” he began, “I am responsible for ensuring every consumer feels proud of the beer we brew.” Now wait a minute, Whitworth. You may be proud of the beer you brew, although that would be a stretch given that it’s Budweiser, but you expect those who buy the beer to be proud of it, too? I’ve drunk a beer or two in my time, although I’ve generally avoided Bud, and I’ve never said or heard anyone else say, “I sure am proud of this beer.” Why would anyone feel proud of the beer he’s drinking? Does Brendan Whitworth feel a similar pride in the food he eats? Does he exclaim at lunch, “I am so darn proud of this ham sandwich!”?
This is a peculiarly twenty-first century form of blather. We’re supposed to be proud of everything now, even perversions and mental illnesses. And since Whitworth is writing to, among others, people who loudly proclaim how proud they are that Dylan Mulvaney is pretending to be a woman, his choice of words is unlikely to have been reflexive or accidental. He seems to be trying to sidle up to the gay pride folks without actually mentioning them straight out.
Whitworth then meanders on about how Anheuser-Busch employs lots of people and has a “proud history supporting our communities, military, first responders, sports fans and hard-working Americans everywhere.” Great. So what about this Dylan Mulvaney business, Brendan? Oh yeah, he was just getting to that: “We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer.” This is a bit of white-flag waving; Whitworth is essentially pleading for mercy and claiming to want to avoid controversy, but the company wouldn’t be hemorrhaging market value and he wouldn’t have had to issue this statement if his company hadn’t voluntarily intruded itself into a “discussion that divides people.” Insisting that “we didn’t mean to!” solves nothing.
After that, Whitworth informs us that he spent “time serving this country” and reminds us of “the importance of accountability,” even as he is in the process of evading accountability. “As CEO of Anheuser-Busch, I am focused on building and protecting our remarkable history and heritage. I care deeply about this country, this company, our brands and our partners. I spend much of my time traveling across America, listening to and learning from our customers, distributors and others.” Okay. So what about Dylan Mulvaney?
“Moving forward,” says the proud Brendan, “I will continue to work tirelessly to bring great beers to consumers across our nation.” Terrific. But… what about Dylan Mulvaney?
That was it. Brendan Whitworth went back into his bunker without saying a thing about why everyone was paying attention to his statement in the first place.
Pro-sanity activist Matt Walsh remarked, “Anheuser Busch has finally released a statement, and it’s just as clumsy and stupid as the marketing stunt that got them into this mess in the first place.” He added, “The statement won’t satisfy their conservative customers because there is no apology or acknowledgment of wrong. And it won’t satisfy the Left because it doesn’t affirm transgenderism and admits at least (without using the word) that the trans issue ‘divides people.’” And most importantly, Walsh said, “the boycott is still on.”
Brendan Whitworth has thus accomplished nothing. And of course, he had extremely little room to maneuver. He couldn’t possibly disavow Dylan Mulvaney without enraging the Left and opening up his company to new boycotts, as well as to the possibility of violence against innocent Bud distributors and stores selling the product. But he couldn’t affirm that the Mulvaney campaign was a great idea without further alienating the patriots who are already making the company feel the heat in their declining market value. So he tried to balance between two barstools and fell off both. As Walsh said, the boycott continues.
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