With Independence Day just around the corner, Bud Light is once again offering a rebate to customers on cases of beer.
“Make Your July 4th Weekend Easy to Enjoy,” the promotional ad reads. “Get up to $15 back via rebate.”
Customers can submit up to three rebates for beer that was purchased between June 15 and July 8, totaling $45. A similar rebate was offered for Memorial Day weekend.
The desperate attempt to drive sales comes after the brand partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, prompting fierce and sustained backlash that has led to a decline in sales since early April when the boycott began.
Former customers are enraged over the way parent company Anheuser-Busch has handled the fiasco. Not only has the company refused to apologize for the partnership, but CEO Brendan Whitworth wouldn't even rule out teaming up with the trans influencer again.
Budweiser CEO refuses to answer the Dylan Mulvaney question. Sounds like Bud Light has learned nothing from the Boycott.pic.twitter.com/AhjdcKLDXQ
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) June 28, 2023
“I think he skirted around a lot of the tough questions. The main one being, ‘Would you do this Mulvaney promotion again?’ And he wouldn’t answer yes or no. He kind of danced around it,” Beer Business Daily publisher Harry Schuhmacher told the New York Post.
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“I see that’s the issue there. But I mean, they’re down 30%. I think the answer is ‘no, you wouldn’t do it again,’” he continued. “Without… throwing any shade to the trans community, I think just from a business perspective, you know, it wasn’t a great idea, clearly.”
Last week, Mulvaney finally commented on the boycott, saying Bud Light has ghosted him ever since.
“For a company to hire a trans person and then not publicly stand by them is worse in my opinion than not hiring a trans person at all,” Mulvaney said, “because it gives customers permission to be as transphobic and hateful as they want.”
He added: “And the hate doesn't end with me. It has serious and grave consequences for the rest of our community. And we're customers, too."
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