First, AB's foreign parent is majority controlled by two families. Anheuser-Busch InBev is controlled by Belgian families Vandamme, de Mévius and de Spoelberch, who as of 2015 owned a combined 28.6% of the company, and Brazilian investors Jorge Paulo Lemann, Carlos Alberto Sicupira and Marcel Telles, who owned 22.7% through their private investment firm 3G Capital. Thus a USD6bn decline in market value doesn't really hurt them, especially since the market has been fluctuating AND you must take into account currency fluctuations as well. Parenthetically, the sensational "LOST SIX BILLION DOLLARS OMG LOCUSTS!!" headlines are stupid; I expect the left to act like idiots.
Second, the guy in a dress is a symptom of a broader disease, which is the dumping of American tradition - warts and all - for a derisive, opinionated and wokey modernity. We needn't get the reporting wrong...listen to Ms Heinerscheid's own words focused on Bud Light's "more resonant and meaningful" Super Bowl commercial
25:11..."Yeah! I....I think number one...you know...I'm a businesswoman...I had a really clear job to do, when I took over Bud Light. And....it was...this brand is in decline, it's been in decline for a really long time. And if we do not attract...young drinkers, to come and drink this brand, there will be no future for Bud Light. So I had this super clear mandate. Like, we need to evolve and elevate, this incredibly iconic brand. And...my...what I brought to that, was a belief in...ok, what does "evolve and elevate" mean? It's means INCLUSIVTY. It means shifting the tone. It means having a campaign that's truly inclusive and feels lighter and brighter and different and appeals to women and to men. And representation is at sort of at the heart of evolution. You've got see people who reflect you, in the work. We had this hangover...I mean...Bud Light had been...kind of a brand of...fratty...kind of out of touch humor...and, it was REALLY important that we had, another approach.
Now, I'll admit, there are LOTS of cringy things in America, but that's largely a matter of taste and style. For example, I think country music sucks, I love Ted Nugent when he's playing guitar or talking about guns but I want him to shaddap thereafter, and the greatest American rockers were Hendrix and Frank Zappa.
However, I'd never sentence Ted or Hank Williams Jr et al to oblivion. And while guys in dresses don't do anything for me, I always thought Divine was funny.
And, indeed, for centuries we Americans coexisted, generally happily. We would rise our voices, take swings at each other, and yes sometimes shots were fired. Even at the founding, about 15-20% of the nation were Loyalists. Thus there has ALWAYS been an irritated minority of wankers, yammering on and on. So be it.
Post-pandemic and 2020, The Wankers feel emboldened. They WANT to erase culture and replace it with antiseptic Eurotrash fakery. Their problem, however, is they STILL can't change the underlying hearts and minds.
Hence, the theatrical approach currently employed by Loyalists 2.0. To wit: Their approach to dealing with an ingrained individualist history where the 2nd Amendment is an 11th Commandment, is to erase it via the news, TV, schools, and social media. They're trying to soften rugged individualism with Andy Hepburn on a beer can.
The boycotts annoy them, because it is fighting fire with fire - theater with theater. Maybe boycotts don't work, but while they sniff at Kid Rock, they've turned Bud Light into Kryptonite for Normal People.
Or, as teevolt wrote, "I’ll just assume from this point forward anyone drinking a BL is trans or has tickets to a drag show." Maybe the left sniffs at statements like that, and considers them immature. Well, some of us loved Mad Magazine and Wacky Packages because they mocked Our Betters.
The BIG question is, What is the campaign would WE run to sell bad beer to folks under 35? Because Bud Light is left vs right in a nutshell. We should have destroyed the Dems in the midterms, and we barely took the House. It's not enough to say "we aren't Bidet or Merrick Garland or Pelosi, and we're not weird." Similarly, it's not enough to say "we think this Dylan guy is off." We can't win the game with pick 6 defense. We need OFFENSE.
We need messaging that invigorates, leads, and captivates people. Until then, it's the left that is driving the truck, and keeping us on defense. Stand FOR something.
“Andy Hepburn on a beer can”
LOL Bob, did you come up with that on your own?
“We need OFFENSE.”
We conservatives need to stop talking about abortion. It is an issue that the Dems use to fire up their base. This was the main reason for the much higher liberal/Dem turnout in last years midterms.
I helped count votes last November in my small town in NH. We had the highest turnout of registered voters ever(82%). As soon as I heard the turnout count from our town moderator I knew that US Senator Maggie Hassan got reelected.
Younger people(twenty and thirty somethings) want access to abortion. Even if they or their girlfriend will never get
one. We won in the Supreme Court. We need to leave it up to the state legislatures and stop talking about it.
We need to talk about the economy(inflation) and the stock market and the cost of energy. Most people that earn a living and get a W2 vote with their pocketbook. The price of all energy is up because of the direct results of Biden policies starting on day one.
Here in NH Eversource increased their electric rate 100%. This is a direct result of the cost of Natural Gas.
Heating oil and diesel fuel are up.
Propane and gasoline are up.
The price of oil is up.
The price of groceries are up.
A Scotts 15m bag of fertilizer was $95 last weekend at Lowes(I did not buy the two I usually buy).
These are the talking points we and the Republican politicians need to pound EVERY DAY.
These are real things that the average American does not like. Things that effect their standard of living.
ALL of these are a direct result of BIDEN policies.