Bud Light Giving Away Free Beer After Dylan Mulvaney Backlash Mocked Online

News that Bud Light has offered free cases of its beer to wholesalers who have faced a hit to sales because of backlash over the brand's partnership with a transgender influencer has been the subject of mockery online by conservatives who called for a boycott.

The Wall Street Journal revealed on Tuesday that the beer brand's parent company, Anheuser-Busch, was attempting to make amends with its distributors who say they have suffered the most from the drop in sales. Recent figures show sales volumes of Bud Light had fallen by 21 percent in the week ending April 21.

"All economic principles are based on supply and demand," Benny Johnson, a political columnist and member of the conservative organization Turning Point USA, said in a video on Wednesday. "If you have too much of something and you don't have any demand for it, then you're just going to have to start giving it away for free."

"Now, lo and behold, we have manifested the actual reality of Bud Light giving itself away for free," he added.

Those who championed a boycott of the brand have been jubilant at recent developments which appear to show Anheuser-Busch taking incremental backsteps over the controversy. The company has faced accusations of alienating its traditional customer base. This has crystalized a broader debate about the acceptance of transgender individuals in public life.

Bud Light has also faced criticism from LGBTQ+ campaigners, who have argued that by not defending the partnership with Dylan Mulvaney—a transgender woman who has charted her first year of transitioning to her over 10 million TikTok followers—it was pandering to transphobes.

On April 14, Brendan Whitworth, CEO of 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."

Following the online boycott calls, supporters of Kari Lake, the GOP candidate for Arizona governor in 2022 backed by former President Donald Trump, refused to drink the beer at an open bar at a rally in Iowa. Meanwhile, a bar owner in Kentucky said he had noticed the drink sparking disputes between patrons and other licensed venues have withdrawn the beer from sale.

While there had been what industry monitors described as a "shocking deterioration" in Bud Light sales, with off-premises revenue falling 26 percent in the week ending April 22, a poll conducted on behalf of Newsweek found an overwhelming majority of Bud Light drinkers said they would continue to do so.

In the wake of poor sales performance, the Wall Street Journal reported that Anheuser-Busch had invited wholesalers to a meeting next week and had paid for a free case for every employee of its distributors.

"A textbook example of what happens when a corporation goes 'woke'—you go broke," Janet Parshall, a Christian radio talks show host, tweeted. "The company is now scrambling to recover from this advertizing fumble."

"Next, 'We'll pay you to take it!'" one Twitter user speculated, while another wrote that the boycott "is having a tremendous impact!"

The newspaper said it had also shared a letter with vendors in which it addressed what it saw as misconceptions about the partnership with Mulvaney, who had posted about being sent a personalized can to celebrate her first year of being a girl, among other promotional videos.

"This can is not a formal campaign or advertisement," the letter reportedly said. An Anheuser-Busch spokesperson told Newsweek on April 3, when the controversy initially emerged, that the company "works with hundreds of influencers across our brands" and that the commemorative can it had given to Mulvaney "was a gift to celebrate a personal milestone and is not for sale to the general public."

Newsweek approached Anheuser-Busch via email for comment on Thursday.