Bud Light Goes Back Into Hiding Online

Bud Light has once again stopped posting on its social media channels, after it briefly broke its silence last Friday, amid a continuing backlash against its partnership with a transgender influencer.

After almost a fortnight without a tweet, the beer brand posted "TGIF?" on April 14, along with a picture of a can of beer—one of its most-seen online posts due to the controversy—before retreating again into quiescence.

Bud Light has faced calls for a boycott after sending a personalized can to Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender influencer and activist who has promoted the brand on her social media accounts, to commemorate her 365 days of being a girl. The row has fed into a broader debate about the acceptance of transgender individuals in public life.

Until its brief post a week ago, the brand had previously not posted on its Twitter account since April 2, its Instagram account since April 1, and its Facebook page since March 30. On April 2, Dylan Mulvaney posted a video to her 1.7 million Instagram followers signaling the partnership.

Following the boycott calls, supporters of Kari Lake, the Donald Trump-backed GOP candidate for Arizona Governor in 2022, refused to drink the beer brand at an open bar at a rally in Iowa. Meanwhile, a bar owner in Kentucky said he had noticed the drink sparking rows between patrons.

Many prominent figures have also waded into the debate. Donald Trump Jr. and Marjorie Taylor Greene are among the political faces to have made reference to the row. Celebrities like Joe Rogan and Caitlyn Jenner have also weighed in.

On the same day as its TGIF post, Brendan Whitworth, CEO of Bud Light's parent company, Anheuser-Busch, issued an official statement, saying: "We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer."

He added: "My time serving this country taught me the importance of accountability and the values upon which America was founded: freedom, hard work and respect for one another."

Conspicuously, that same Friday, another of Anheuser-Busch's brands, Budweiser, released an advert infused with patriotic imagery, saying the beer is "rooted in the heart of America"—which was perceived as an attempt to appeal to the company's traditional consumers and move on from the debacle.

The ad features a Clydesdale horse galloping through rural scenes, past the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., and across the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. It also shows an American flag being raised in slow motion, as well as a father and son sharing a beer on a porch and the Grand Canyon in Arizona.

"This is a story bigger than beer," the commercial's voiceover says. "This is the story of the American spirit."

Following its release, many criticized the company online, either for appearing to pander to those outraged by the Bud Light partnership, or for not doing enough to quell the outrage. The ad also attracted the criticism of animal rights group PETA, which said the commercial had featured a horse with a "cruelly amputated" tail.

Newsweek reached out to Anheuser-Busch via email for comment on Friday.

Transgender rights and inclusion are issues that are proving deeply polarizing in the U.S. A survey by the Pew Research Center last year found that 38 percent of Americans believed that society had gone too far in accepting transgender people, while 36 percent said it had not gone far enough.