Bud Light Distributor Issues Public Plea to Bring Back Angry Customers

A beer distributor Montgomery, Alabama, is speaking out against the Bud Light's decision to partner with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, in a one-minute radio ad running on about 10 radio stations in the state.

The Bud Light brand faced intense backlash after sending Mulvaney a commemorative can with her face to celebrate the one-year anniversary of her transitioning to a woman in April. People were quick to boycott the beer, and Anheuser-Busch's response to the backlash only added fuel to the criticism after it neither walked back the partnership nor spoke out in support of its LGBTQ+ consumers.

Disappointment in the brand came from big-name conservatives and celebrities, as well as bars throughout the nation, and now Bama Budweiser General Manager Steve Tatum is joining the fray after publishing a radio ad explaining his take on the situation.

Tatum, who has worked at Bama Budweiser since 1989, said he and his company never supported the issue involving Mulvaney and explained his take on what happened.

"We at Bama Budweiser, an independent wholesaler, employ around 100 people who live here, work here, and our children go to school here," he said in the ad. "We do not, and as I said before, did not support this issue involving Dylan Mulvaney. There was one single can made. It was not for sale and wasn't properly approved. As a result, the Bud Light brand has new leadership.

"Dylan Mulvaney is not under contract with Bud Light. The videos you may have seen are Mulvaney's own social media posts that went viral and many web-based news outlets have distorted the story. You deserve to know the truth, and life is too short to let a couple of individuals decide what you can eat or drink or spend your hard-earned money on. And remember, making friends is our business, not enemies."

Since the fallout, Bud Light has seen a steep decrease in its sales, with competitors Miller Light and Coors Light seeing an increase. To smooth over relations with its distributors, Anheuser-Busch gifted a case of Bud Light to every employee of its distributors and promised to increase its marketing expenses for the brand. The company also informed its distributors that it had a new team overseeing advertising for Bud Light.

Tatum told Newsweek that his purpose for running the ad was to try to reverse sinking sales in his own company. He started running the ad in early May, and so far, the response has been encouraging.

"It's kind of early to tell, I haven't had a whole lot of time to gauge it, but early results look like [sales] might be turning back the other way," he said.

The backlash has affected Bud Light sales nationally, and Tatum said as a local company, Bama Budweiser is just trying to take care of local businesses.

"I felt like we had to get a message out there," he said. "We are tied to a corporation, but that's not necessarily our beliefs in our market here in Alabama."