By Andrea Widburg
The interesting thing about revolutions is that it’s often a seemingly small thing that triggers them, just as the proverbial straw breaks the camel’s back. In 1775, a skirmish triggered the American Revolution. In 2023, Bud Light’s decision to give Dylan Mulvaney, America’s most famous “woman face” performer, beer cans with his likeness imprinted on them triggered an overwhelmingly strong reaction against corporate wokeness. A video from Fenway Park shows how deep American anger runs.
In 1775, the American shooting war began when the British headed to Concord to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock and to remove arms and powder they believed were stored there. This could just have been a local battle in a smoldering dispute. Instead, from that moment forward, the revolutionary spirit burst into flame, not just in and around Boston, but across the 13 colonies. It truly was, as Ralph Waldo Emerson later wrote, the “shot heard round the world.”
For some time now, there’s been a smoldering dispute between (a) those who believe in the science of human biology, along with the morals and social norms that flow from that science, and (b) those who believe that humans have the power to change their sex, along with the obsessive focus on children’s sexuality that flows from that belief. Moms for Liberty groups are trying to change what’s happening in the classrooms (and several legislatures have responded), but most Americans have been passive observers.
Americans have also been passive about the LGBTQ+++ takeover of the corporate world. As one American corporation after another has embraced “Pride,” they’ve just tuned out the rainbow-themed stores in June and the endless advertisements, product placements, and emails in which corporations have touted their love for all things LGBTQ. They’ve mostly stood by as the media—TV shows, movies, advertisements, etc.—have suddenly decided that the best people to hire are so-called “transgender” people. Heck, RuPaul’s Drag Race has long been a hit reality show.
Throughout these years, there’s been some pushback from affected groups (mostly parents) but, on the whole, ordinary Americans who didn’t have children in schools, didn’t engage. They tolerated.
The straw that broke the camel’s back was Budweiser’s decision to make a specialty Bud Light can for Dylan Mulvaney. It wasn’t just the can, though. It was Mulvaney frolicking in a bathtub in a bikini and makeup while celebrating his special can that finally put Americans over the top. That little twerp who is making millions from product placements had finally gone too far. Bud Light may taste like puppy urine (a guess, as I’ve never drunk either), but it’s still America’s beer, and this was a straw too many.
Completely spontaneously, without any need for fancy Astro-turf campaigns or callouts by Hollywood stars and TikTok personalities (although a few country stars joined in), Americans stopped drinking Bud Light:
To stem the hemorrhage, Bud gave its Vice President of Marketing, Alissa Heinerscheid, a “leave of absence.” Then, Budweiser made a fawningly pro-American ad that failed to impress Americans.
Brendan Whitworth, the CEO of Anheuser-Busch InBev issued a statement, saying, “We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people.” Americans recognize a non-apology apology when they see one and, again, were unimpressed.
Anheuser-Busch’s CEO tried next: “We will need to continue to clarify the facts—that this was one camp, one influence on a post and not a campaign.” Hey, guys! It’s another non-apology apology. And we’re not going anywhere without a real apology.
What’s happened, and what the people at Anheuser-Busch and Budweiser fail to comprehend, is that Americans now feel a sense of revulsion when they see Bud. It’s like Pavlov’s dog: Instead of drooling, they throw up a little in their mouths. Nothing illustrates more perfectly this visceral sense of revulsion than a video from Boston’s Fenway Park which is, ironically, located not that far from Concord:
I’m often asked whether I’m optimistic or pessimistic about America’s future. I reply that I worry, but I have hope. One of the things that gives me hope is that this is proving to be a time of Black Swans (that is, entirely unpredictable events that dramatically change things).
Elon Musk turning Twitter, once the government’s favorite vehicle for censorship, into a free speech platform was a Black Swan. Fox News’s seppuku decision to deplatform Tucker Carlson may well be a Black Swan. The same is true for both Vivek Ramaswamy’s and Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s decisions to run for president.
And Bud’s decision to give a creepy little woman-face minstrel show performer his own Bud Light can, is looking very much like one more Black Swan in a crazy year.
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/05/a_video_from_fenway_park_shows_that_budweiser_is_in_deep_trouble.html