After caving to anti-trans bigots who reacted violently to a seconds-long Instagram video of Dylan Mulvaney promoting their brand, Bud Light is trying to win back its lost market share… with DISCO? WHAH???
On Wednesday morning’s edition of CNN This Morning, Chief Business Correspondent Christine Romans reported that after losing the top spot in the light beer market, the CEO of Bud Light’s parent company has learned a lesson — “listen to their customers”:
CHRISTINE ROMANS: One little customized can on an Instagram post has sparked this huge boycott and controversy for Bud Light.
So we are hearing from the top marketing executive of the company at the Cannes Lion Festival and this is what he said. “When things get divisive and controversial so easily, I think it’s an important wake- up call to all of us marketers to be very humble.”
He goes on to say it’s tough to see all the controversy and divisiveness, specifically in the United States, with other companies and brands as well. And he said they’ve got to be open to learning and listening to their customers. He said they’re going to be back on top and he’s optimistic that things are going to come back. It’s coming back, he said, but they are going to be going around the country listening to their customers.
So after backing down to bigots by non-apology-apologizing for recognizing trans people with a self-promotional gesture, the new plan is to win them back with a campaign set to the seminal disco hit “Good Times”:
The company hopes its new 60-second spot, set to the 1979 disco hit “Good Times” by the band Chic, can bring back customers. It shows people enjoying Bud Light despite facing some of summer’s biggest pain points, like sunburn or a sudden thunderstorm during a cook out. The ad was posted to YouTube on Thursday and the brand has turned off the ability to add comments.
In addition to the new spot, Bud Light’s broader ad campaign for summer includes partnerships with country singers to bring concerts to fans’ backyards and new ads featuring NFL players, including Travis Kelce and Dak Prescott, set to roll out in a few weeks. It’s also giving away $10,000 weekly to drinkers to “make summer easy to enjoy and stock up for all the backyard parties,” according to a press release.
The new ad is a continuation of its “Easy to Drink, Easy to Enjoy” that made its debut during this year’s Super Bowl. That spot featured actor Miles Teller and his wife Keleigh Sperry dancing and relaxing at home with a Bud Light.
Wonder what Nile Rodgers thinks of this.
Here’s hoping nobody tells Kid Rock and his army of panicky anti-trans bros that “Good Times” — and disco more broadly — was the soundtrack to the Black and transgender-led LGBTQ rights movement that continues to face violent resistance to this day.
I’ll have a Modelo.
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
