Opening Twitter/ X or Instagram and scrolling through those platforms gives everyone an idea about how the public perceives various social issues. Generally, people are accepting of LGBTQ people in today’s age. At the very least, in many Western countries, they are tolerated.
However, not everyone is on board with them, of course. Many LGBTQ+ activists have argued that things are going backward in many places.
One of the recent controversies involving the LGBTQ community was about Dylan Mulvaney, and it looks like the effects of it have begun showing at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally of all places.
The Budweiser tent at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is empty, with no one drinking their beer at the world’s largest motorcycle rally. The traditional Budweiser drinkers, primarily conservatives, have boycotted the beverage after the company, Anheuser-Busch, partnered with transgender content creator Dylan Mulvaney to promote their one-year transition into womanhood in April 2023.
Why Was The Budweiser Tent Empty at Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
Something curious happened on Wednesday, August 8, at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, taking place in South Dakota. Motorbikers and other motorsports lovers poured in to watch the rally but didn’t drink one specific kind of beer- Budweiser. Their tents were completely empty, with not even one buyer seen.
This was the case for the entirety of the ten days the event was held, beginning from August 4, 2023. The Budweiser tents were empty when generally, it would be full of folks drinking and having a good time.
What surprised people the most was that this happened at the world’s largest motorcycle rally. It has been happening since 1938 and attracts thousands from all over the nation. The first video of the curious Budweiser incident was shared by TikTok user @cycledrag, who captioned it as:
“Take a look, Sturgis is absolutely jam-packed. The Harley tent is packed, the BMW tent is packed, but Budweiser [is] having a tough go. There must be a whole lot of beer left over in there. I don’t know what to say.”
For the uninitiated, Budweiser (and the local distributor Quality Brands of the Black Hills) is the official beverage of the famous Sturgis motorcycle rally. So why were they so severely boycotted this year?
The Anheuser-Busch beer boycott that began earlier this year is still in full force as people are still avoiding Budweiser. In April 2023, Anheuser-Busch, the owners of Budweiser and Bud Light, got embroiled in controversy when they sponsored transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney’s first anniversary of transitioning into womanhood.
They made beer cans that honored Dylan’s transition from male to female. In a TikTok video, Mulvaney promoted the beer cans with their face on them. This led to calls for nationwide boycotts of Budweiser.
It worked because apart from people avoiding the beer at the rally, there were reports that the revenue earned from the Budweiser beer had reduced by 28 percent over four weeks, ending July 1.
Also, there was a decrease in the volume of the drink sold. Conservative commentators mostly called for the social boycott since they make up the traditional consumer base of Bud Light and Budweiser, and they didn’t like the company’s involvement in LGBTQIA+ issues.
The boycott is hurting Anheuser-Busch in some way because they have responded to the backlash by announcing layoffs. After the nationwide protests, roughly 350 employees and 2% of the workforce are said to have been laid off, as per Associated Press News, especially in marketing and corporate roles.
What are your thoughts about the continuing Budweiser and Bud Light boycotts?
Are people going overboard with the hate now? Or is it wholly justified after the stunt that Anheuser-Busch pulled with Dylan Mulvaney in April?
Let us know in the comments below.
