Should organisations get involved in political activism and use their platforms to raise awareness of issues and pursue lasting change?
Or is getting involved worth the risk of controversy and alienating customers?
These are questions many companies are increasingly trying to answer.
And one of the world’s biggest beer brands has produced a case study on how not to do it.
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Bud Light has been at the centre of a storm after working with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney on a series of social media posts.
The posts included showed off a custom can the company gifted her in honour of her one-year anniversary of transitioning.
And they triggered huge outrage.
Among calls for a boycott, country singer Travis Tritt announced the beer would be banned from his upcoming tour. And another musician Kid Rock posted a video of him firing a gun at packs of Bud Light.
According to Axios, there have been 5,600 news articles published about the controversy in two weeks.
Bud Light, owned by Anheuser-Busch, initially stayed quiet apart from a brief statement confirming it sometimes creates commemorative cans as gifts.
There was a sense it was hoping for the outrage to blow over, and it didn’t say anything further until this weekend.
CEO Brendan Whitworth eventually broke the company’s silence with a wordy and vague statement under the title ‘Our responsibility to America’.
In it, he said: “We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer.”
And he added: “I care deeply about this country, this company, our brands and our partners. I spend much of my time travelling across America, listening to and learning from our customers, distributors.”
— Anheuser-Busch (@AnheuserBusch) April 14, 2023
This response left a bitter taste and succeeded in upsetting just about everyone.
Those on the left felt the company was now backtracking in the face of the backlash.
Kaivan Shroff, a political activist, called the statement “pathetic” and accused Mr Whitworth of an “epic leadership fail.”
Pathetic statement from @AnheuserBusch CEO.
— Kaivan Shroff (@KaivanShroff) April 14, 2023
To be clear they sent a trans influencer personalized cans of Budlight. That’s not “dividing” people. Caving to these hateful bigots is what divides our country.
Shame on you, Brendan Whitworth. Epic leadership fail. pic.twitter.com/Jvi2hHi5c8
Ben Collins from NBC News tweeted the company had caved to "a mob that was shooting at and running over its product for giving a one-minute sponsored Instagram post to a trans person."
Bud Light caves to a mob that was shooting at and running over its product for giving a one-minute sponsored Instagram post to a trans person. pic.twitter.com/ZqWDGPM36z
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) April 14, 2023
And those on the right felt the company had not gone far enough. Ian Miles Cheong labelled it a “non-apology”.
This is the non-apology from Bud Light that conservatives are falling all over themselves to hail as a massive victory against wokeness. And this is why I say conservatism is wokeism driving at the speed limit. pic.twitter.com/U4n2AmccQU
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) April 14, 2023
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has encouraged people to keep boycotting the beer, adding he did not want to help “woke companies.”
We are often asked about companies getting involved in political and societal issues during our media training and crisis communication training courses.
There is an increasing need for brands to be seen to be more moral than their competitors and shout louder about their values.
Inclusivity is seen as a crucial way of reaching younger consumers.
Alissa Heinerscheid, Bud Light’s vice president, said as much in the Make Yourself at Home podcast last month.
She said the brand needed to evolve from its “fratty, kind of out of touch humour.”
“This brand is in decline,” she added.
“It’s been in decline for a really long time, and if we do not attract young drinkers to come and drink this brand there will be no future for Bud Light.
“So, I had this super clear mandate, we need to evolve and elevate this incredibly iconic brand. This means inclusivity. It means shifting the tone. It means having a campaign that’s truly inclusive and feels lighter and brighter and different and appeals to women and to men. And representation is at the heart of evolution.”
That makes sense.
But, of course, there is a downside. There is a chance this new approach and taking a stand will trigger a backlash, alienate some existing customers, and push the company into crisis media management mode.
We live in divided times, and the US is arguably more polarised than the UK.
So, if you are going to take a stand, you must be prepared for the repercussions.
It will always be the case that some customers, potential customers, and those who like jumping on the latest bandwagon will disagree with you.
If you are taking a moral stand demanding change, be it in the environment, racism or any form of social justice, the chances are that you will rub some people up the wrong way. And social media gives everyone a platform to share those views.
Bud Light didn’t appear to plan for any negative reaction.
Instead, it stayed silent, allowing the storm surrounding the story to brew.
And when it did eventually speak, it appeared to back down and attempt to try and sit on the fence and appease everyone.
To quote poet John Lydgate: “You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.”
The outcome is Bud Light now looks like it was paying lip service to trans rights in the hope of adding some fizz to beer sales rather than raising awareness of something it believes in and is committed to.
The beer company is not the only big-name brand to find itself at the centre of a storm after partnering with Mulvaney.
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The influencer also recently teamed up with Nike to promote its sports bra and leggings. It is a move former Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies described as a “kick in the teeth” for women.
And she was among those calling for a boycott of the brand, which has also seen a ‘burn the bra challenge’ emerge on TikTok.
Nike, though, has a history of taking a stand on issues and weathering controversies. And it has taken a different approach to the backlash, appearing determined to stick to its approach.
It posted: “You are an essential component to the success of your community.
'We welcome comments that contribute to a positive and constructive discussion.
“Be kind. Be inclusive. Encourage each other.
“Hate speech, bullying, or other behaviours that are not in the spirit of a diverse and inclusive community will be deleted.”
So, what can other organisations learn from this?
The advice we offer during our crisis communication training is that if your brand wants to use its profile to raise awareness of issues it believes are important, it needs to:
Consider the audience
You need to know your audience or the audience you want to appeal to. What do they care about? How much do they care? Do they want you to care too? Is this the right issue for that audience?
Plan
We live in divided times. Social media can be toxic. So, you need to have a plan to manage the backlash that allows you to respond quickly.
Communicate
Don’t stay silent like Bud Light. Becoming paralysed by the fallout allows the narrative to be taken over by those with opposing views. The boycott becomes the story.
Stick to it
If you are going to take a stand, you need to play the long game and show a bit of corporate courage. Don’t back down and change your position at the first opportunity.
Flipflopping between different viewpoints in a bid to appease everyone will alienate more people.
And raises questions about the authenticity of the organisation and its leaders.
But is it better to stay quiet?
Looking at the backlash faced by Bud Light and Nike, it is easy to understand the temptation to say quiet and try to avoid a self-induced crisis media management incident.
But done well, taking a stand can help you reach people whose ideas resonate with your thoughts.
And they are more likely to align with you and your company because you are taking a stand. They have a choice over which companies they want to do business with.
We don’t live in a perfect world. Some things need to be changed.
Showing your staff and customers you care and showing your awareness and sense of responsibility towards the welfare of the planet and the people who live in it is increasingly crucial.
Research from Deloitte has shown more than two-thirds of consumers want brands to take public stands on social and political issues.
So, a better question may be whether you have more to lose by staying quiet than speaking out?
Something to consider over a beer, perhaps.
Media First are media and communications training specialists with more than 35 years of experience. We have a team of trainers, each with decades of experience working as journalists, presenters, communications coaches and media trainers.
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