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Anheuser-Busch defended its decision to enlist trans activist and influencer Dylan Mulvaney as a Bud Light brand influencer Monday in the face of growing backlash from critics.
Mulvaney, a TikTok star with more than 10 million followers, posted a video advertising the beer company’s March Madness contest offering customers a chance to win $15,000.
In the Instagram footage, the content creator is dressed like Audrey Hepburn’s character in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” as she cracks open a Bud Light can and takes a sip.
“This month I celebrated my 365 days of womanhood and Bud Light sent me possibly the best gift ever — a can with my face on it,” Mulvaney said in the video noting her year-end milestone of transitioning.
Another video featured the activist drinking a can in her bathtub as part of the campaign.
Conservatives quickly jumped on the campaign and slammed the company’s decision to partner with a trans activist. They claimed the beer maker was pushing “gender propaganda.”
However, Anheuser-Busch said the cans with Mulvaney’s face on them were a personal gift to her and that she is one of hundreds of influencers the company partners with.
“Anheuser-Busch works with hundreds of influencers across our brands as one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences across various demographics and passion points,” a spokesperson for the company told Fox News. “From time to time, we produce unique commemorative cans for fans and for brand influencers, like Dylan Mulvaney. This commemorative can was a gift to celebrate a personal milestone and is not for sale to the general public.”
Several conservatives shared their apparent anger over the partnership on Twitter.
“Is the Bud Light thing an April Fool’s joke?” conservative radio host Erick Erickson tweeted. “I mean it is trash beer, but given the constituent demo of Bud Light drinkers, it seems like a terrible marketing thing.”
Another commentator said the beer distributor has “gone totally woke.”
“Message to conservative families from @budlight seems to be: We will encourage and even celebrate the erasure of men and women along with all the values you care about,” Robby Starbuck claimed.
Mulvaney recently addressed the negative comments and hate she receives as an openly trans woman on The Drew Barrymore Show.
“I think the greatest weapon that I can contribute is trans joy…I’m not somebody that is trying to do anything but be myself and be happy,” she said.
