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.
7 Comments
Dylan whatever is a 26 year old man cosplaying as a 14 year old girl it’s disgusting and I want nothing to do with it or it’s cult of gender confusion and body mutilation.
Just so everyone knows Anheuser-Busch is not just only Budweiser and bud lite they make a lot more beer products than that so in short they still making money off the stupid people who quit drinking bud,bud lite and drink other Anheuser products so check what your drinking before you drink
I am also tired of the “hate” label. Most conservatives don’t hate anyone. We are mostly a “live and let live” group of people. It’s when liberals start trying to shove alternative lifestyles down our throats that we get fed up. You do you and I’ll do me and we can agree to disagree and get along. Either that or leave us alone!
All media outlets keep saying the boycott is all about hate. Conservative hate to be more precise. Am I supposed to believe not one liberal stopped drinking budweiser? The media keeps screaming “It is about hate. The conservatives hate lgbq people. The conservatives have set the lgbq movement back years.” Yes, some do gate lgbq people but many were tolerant of lgbq as long as they tried to blend in and be a part of society. People used restrooms of the opposite sex for years without problems. But when the biden administration took control and started shoving everything lgbq in people’s faces by letting PERVERTS take it to school, women’s restrooms, women’s sports and protests in the streets; budweiser became the last straw. The media needs to stop pushing hate and lies. We The People need to get the perverts out of the white house.
Personally, it is not the trans part of Dylan Mulvaney that bothers me. It is the “infuencer” descriptor. Only claim to fame is some internet videos. Not going to influence me. Screw Bud.
When the vice president calls me a fratty low brow customer, she thinks I am going to
Keep buying their products. All I can say is stupid bitch.
It is not a boycott; boycotts are for the most part a temporary thing. We will never drink a butt wiper product again.