For so many Americans, Cracker Barrel is a convenient and consistent place to go for hearty meals, kitschy decor, and Southern hospitality. That is, until this week, when one trend-chasing executive decided to greenlight a logo revision, unleashing a backlash across the nation.
Cracker Barrel, <a href="https://investor.crackerbarrel.com/news-releases/news-release-details/cracker-barrel-says-goodbye-founder-dan-w-evins">founded</a> in 1969 by the late Dan Evins, came to symbolize American heritage. The original logo of an elderly gentleman sitting on a chair while leaning against a barrel epitomized that heritage. By removing the nostalgic imagery, the company seemingly put the final nail in the coffin of a treasured piece of Americana.
When current CEO Julie Felss Masino — who previously served as president of Mattel and Taco Bell — <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cracker-barrel-blasted-for-rebrand-that-scraps-beloved-logo-crime-against-humanity">announced</a> the logo change, she explained that her goal was to get Cracker Barrel out of people’s “<a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/cracker-barrel-ceo-julie-felss-masino-new-logo-controversy-what-know">rearview mirror</a>” and to &#8220;make sure that it was something that really resonates with everybody of today and for tomorrow.&#8221; On paper, that may seem like a good idea, especially as the company is facing declining sales and trying to appeal to a younger demographic. In practice, it’s been an absolute disaster that has <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cracker-barrel-cbrl-stock-down-200-million-loss-new-logo-change/">cost the company $100 million</a> in market value after the rebrand. 
It would be too easy to chalk up Cracker Barrel’s mistake as just another company gone woke. But the truth seems to be more complicated than that. As Andrew Beck, founding partner of brand consultancy <a href="https://beckandstone.com/about/">Beck &amp; Stone</a>, said during an email interview with The Daily Wire, Masino’s flub was likely the result of heeding bad advice. 
“She clearly values the brand and the customer’s feelings about it,” he said. “I do not think her insights are wrong—but I highly suspect the ‘outside help’ she describes as being brought in advised her team to turn left to ‘modern’ instead of right to ‘nostalgia’ at the fork in the road that every company must: what do we keep, what do we kick?”
Beck added, “It takes deep cultural understanding and tactical skill to actualize such an insight, and when I see who was tasked with the redesign—the firm ‘Prophet’—who tattoos their progressive cultural values on their sleeve, I just can’t see them sharing the Cracker Barrel cultural context enough to execute Julie’s vision skillfully.”
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That disconnect is not unique to Cracker Barrel. In fact, it fits a growing pattern. Companies chasing sleek, modern branding often leave their loyal customer bases behind. It’s enough to inspire eye rolls whenever a company strips its logo of personality to introduce a slick, minimalist iteration that&#8217;s easily lost amongst a sea of similar corporate logos.
“It is a byproduct of a general decline of the customer experience in the Western world for these middle market service companies,” Beck explained. “These rebrands are meant to signal a positive change, but because of the lack of imagination and ingenuity on the part of their consultants who are supposed to be ‘experts’ on these matters, the sanitized, sterile aesthetics of their environments and communications become reminders to the customer that the company’s better days are behind it.”
This is especially true for a brand like Cracker Barrel, whose entire identity is built on nostalgia and authenticity. Strip those away, and what remains? 
“As I tell our corporate [clients] with legacy American brands. ‘Be who you are. If you are American, be American.’ Problems arise when those being relied on to advise the company do not value their client’s heritage,” Beck said. “Often these are folks who come in and want to impose their own vision on a brand, rather than taking up the company’s historic values as their own. It is difficult to not see ideological influence in these decisions,” the strategist said.
For longtime employees, the decline has been obvious. Erik Russell worked for nearly a decade at Cracker Barrel. He says he did every job in the restaurant and even met his wife there. To him, it was more than just a place to work, and he said the customers felt the same way. 
“Cracker Barrel was more than a restaurant to them, it was home. A place where they felt they still belonged, even as the world changed around them,” Russell <a href="https://x.com/bennyjohnson/status/1958602832111685663">told</a> media personality Benny Johnson in an interview.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
EXCLUSIVE: Cracker Barrel Insider Breaks Silence on the Woke Destruction of an American Institution
Erik Russell spent nearly 10 years working at Cracker Barrel. He’s done every job in the restaurant. Erik even met his wife there. To Erik, Cracker Barrel was a place where… <a href="https://t.co/YDolLTs3dW">pic.twitter.com/YDolLTs3dW</a>
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) <a href="https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1958602832111685663?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 21, 2025</a></blockquote>
But Russell says the business he once loved unraveled after leadership changes. He described how small changes added up to something big, like when brown menus were replaced, uniforms got more relaxed, and alcohol was introduced despite the founders’ conviction that staying dry preserved the family atmosphere. 
“The logo and store redesign is simply the last step in total brand destruction by corporate vandals who seemed to despise the Cracker Barrel core culture,” Erik said.
He said the antiques on the wall were once curated from estate sales to reflect real Americana, but the remodeled stores are using generic reproductions instead. 
“I felt like I was part of something truly American, full of nostalgia and tradition. Now all of that’s being torn down and replaced with just another bland, soulless corporate chain,” he said.
That sense of loss goes beyond new décor. It’s about what Cracker Barrel symbolized for countless Americans. “Cracker Barrel built up decades of goodwill across the country,&#8221; Russell continued. &#8220;We often referred to ourselves as ‘America’s front porch’ after the iconic long storefront filled with rocking chairs and checkerboards where guests would wait to be seated. Each store I worked in felt slightly different, a reflection of their communities.”
For Beck, the lesson here is for businesses not to confuse modernity with progress. “All management is change management. A business must deal with change constantly. What is valuable and what is not? Misidentifying those value propositions, often because of a cultural blindspot on the part of brand ‘experts’ is often at the heart of the failure to manage change,” he said.
When asked if he thinks Cracker Barrel is having a “Bud Light moment,” Beck disagreed, saying the better comparison is Jaguar. 
The legacy car brand recently rebranded with an ultra-modern, futuristic aesthetic and was mocked mercilessly for it. 
“Bud Light became a meme based on a single can,” he said. “The larger business itself was strong and remains so. Jaguar was a disaster from a business POV. A struggling company with a storied brand but neglected product going through big changes jumping the shark, sealing a fate that was not inevitable, rather than changing it.”
“I fear this is another Jaguar unless there is a course correction on the aesthetics and communications across the board,” Beck said. “Right now it is only confirming what the customer base already feared was happening, not exciting them at the prospect of a revived product. I have high hopes that Julie Masino, who has a good relationship with her board, sees this and will do what needs to be done.”
For now, the “America’s front porch” that Erik loved looks more like just another franchise trying to appease consultants instead of remaining a place where families gather to make memories. The food is different, the atmosphere sterile, and the iconic logo is gone. 
What made Cracker Barrel special is slipping away, and the backlash from customers is proof. The irony is that in desperately trying to get out of America’s “rearview mirror,” Cracker Barrel may have veered straight into a ditch.

Cracker Barrel Redesigns Its Logo

Cracker Barrel Didn’t Go Woke With Its Rebrand, They Were Conned By ‘Experts.’

Cracker Barrel Didn’t Go Woke. They Got Conned By ‘Experts.’

America

Americana

Bud Light

Cracker Barrel

Jaguar

Woke Culture

On June 15, masculinity planted its flag in the public square and dared the culture to yank it out.
Father’s Day 2025 wasn’t a Hallmark pit stop. It was the inflection point of my <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/author/gates-garcia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">two recent Daily Wire op-eds</a> — on the hijacking of manhood and its collateral damage — we’re racing toward.
This piece is the capstone. The frontier has been claimed. The real work begins now.
<a href="https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/father-s-day-spending-to-reach-record-24-billion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Consumers shelled out a record $24 billion</a> honoring dad, the most the National Retail Federation has ever logged. Boys needed reassurance. Fathers needed reassurance. Families needed reassurance. And they finally got some.
The White House echoed the mood. In his Father’s Day proclamation, President Donald Trump praised dads as “custodians of our strength…protectors of our security and safety,” tying fatherhood to tough-on-crime, border-security, and anti-gender-ideology policies.
A year earlier, President Joe Biden had joked in Scranton that he wanted to “smack” the “macho guys” who backed Trump — an encore to his 2018 boast about taking Trump “behind the gym.” One Oval Office mocked male toughness; the other affirmed it. The times they are a-changin’.
The weekend also delivered a storybook moment on the 18th green at Oakmont. J.J. Spaun made a bleary-eyed 3:00 a.m. CVS run when his toddler began vomiting, then birdied four of his final nine holes to win the U.S. Open on Father’s Day — trophy in one hand, daughters in the other. Paternal duty and professional excellence aren’t rivals; they’re complementary capabilities.
Corporate America is relearning the same lesson. Dove Men+Care’s new <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYTK2db2uzA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Care Makes a Dad </a>ads showcase hands-on fathers instead of worn-in La-Z-Boys. Bud Light is still bleeding from its 2023 misfire — sales linger about 30% lower, and brand equity has vaporized by the tens of billions. Mock men and you lose money. Honor them, and the cash register rings.
Entrepreneurs have noticed. NBA forward Jonathan Isaac’s faith-first label UNITUS can’t keep inventory in stock, and it has company. Men’s-grooming upstart Duke Cannon, which markets “big-ass bricks of soap” with unapologetically rugged copy, logged a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kaleighmoore/2022/12/14/duke-cannon-is-reshaping-marketing-messaging-in-the-mens-grooming-category-heres-how/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">70% year-over-year jump</a> in facial-care sales at Target, while Black Rifle Coffee Company — founded by Special Forces veterans and pitched as java “for America’s heroes” — is projecting <a href="https://www.just-drinks.com/news/black-rifle-coffee-sets-out-three-year-growth-aspirations/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">double-digit EBITDA growth</a> over the next three years on revenue already north of $100 million.
Capitol Hill is chasing the cultural tailwind. Republican Reps. Byron Donalds (FL) and Burgess Owens (UT) introduced <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-resolution/487" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a bill</a> declaring fatherhood “essential to the development of all children” and calling for mentorship, re-entry help, and tax policies that keep dads in the home. Former NFL safety Jack Brewer launched a <a href="https://www.cbs42.com/business/press-releases/ein-presswire/821303856/the-jack-brewer-foundation-celebrates-grand-opening-of-jbfs-national-fatherhood-center-in-washington-d-c/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Fatherhood Center</a> to lobby for the bill.
Hard numbers justify the urgency. About <a href="https://www.fatherhood.org/father-absence-statistic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">17.6 million children still lack a resident dad</a> — too many — but for the first time in a generation, that figure is inching downward, with <a href="https://www.fatherhood.org/championing-fatherhood/press-release-children-living-with-a-father-in-the-home-reaches-34-year-high" target="_blank" rel="noopener">75% of American kids now living with a father.</a> Prime-age male labor-force participation sits at <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS11300001" target="_blank" rel="noopener">67.8</a>%, well above its pandemic nadir yet a full generation below post-war norms.
Even the Federal Reserve lists the shortfall as a macro-economic drag. In classrooms, 8th grade boys trail girls by <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/subject/publications/stt2024/pdf/2024220NY8.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">eight points </a>in reading, a gap that drags on lifetime earnings.
Yet the renaissance has begun. High school shop class <a href="https://fortune.com/2024/04/04/gen-z-choosing-trade-schools-college-welders-carpenters-six-figure-job/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">enrollment is rising</a> as districts finance welding bays and construction labs. <a href="https://promisekeepers.org/wakeupcall/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Promise Keepers’</a> stadium events are back. NFL legend Jason Kelce hit Cannes Lions in a “Bluey suit” just to thrill his four daughters. Alexis de Tocqueville would nod knowingly — he wrote in 1835 that American fathers ruled not through fear but through “the affection and experience of age.”
Cultural commentators are rediscovering frontier wisdom. John Wayne reminded us, “You have to be a man before you can be a gentleman,” while Theodore Roosevelt insisted the nation must cultivate “the iron qualities that go with true manhood.” We spend endless airtime debating how to raise great men. Father’s Day 2025 finally laid the foundation by teaching boys what it means to be a man at all.
It also marked a defiant rebuke to the ideology that has long tried to erase the family altogether. Karl Marx’s “Communist Manifesto” lists “abolition of the family” among its necessary steps toward collectivism, and Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors once boasted, “We are trained Marxists.”
Marxism dissolves individual loyalties — faith, family, even biological sex — so only the collective remains. Father’s Day 2025, with its record spending, viral dad-stories, and presidential blessing, was a nationwide celebration in Marxism’s face, a reminder that liberty begins with individuals anchored in families, not citizens melted into a hive.
The stakes are concrete. Cities that nurture father engagement post <a href="https://publichealth.uic.edu/news-stories/new-study-finds-mentorship-lowers-rates-of-youth-crime-and-delinquency/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">double-digit drops in juvenile crime</a>; every percentage-point rise in male labor-force participation adds billions to GDP. The formula is simple: slash fatherlessness and flood the workforce with men who show up. Close the classroom reading gap, and everything else falls into place.
Critics say re-centering men marginalizes women, but a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/sep/20/fathers-have-unique-effect-on-childrens-educational-outcomes-study-finds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2023 University of Leeds study</a> found that when dads spend as little as 10 minutes a day reading or playing with their kids, daughters register a measurable jump in early test scores. <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2015/12/2015-12-17_parenting-in-america_FINAL.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pew analysis</a> shows families that keep dad in the home slash mom-and-child poverty rates by more than two-to-one.
Momentum matters, but so does personal action. Now it’s our turn. Mentor a boy for an hour each week; shop brands that honor fathers; prod your school board to revive shop class; stretch Father’s Day into a civic festival so virtue becomes visible.
Historian Arnold Toynbee said civilizations rise when they successfully respond to great challenges. America’s challenge is fatherlessness. The answer is taking shape. Manhood isn’t baggage, it’s jet fuel for a free nation — raw strength harnessed by honor, propelling liberty farther than any bureaucrat’s decree ever will.
Gates Garcia is the host of the YouTube show and podcast We The People. Follow him on IG and X @GatesGarciaFL
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The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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2025 U.S. OPEN – Final Round

From Punchline To Frontline: Father’s Day 2025 Turned Manhood Into A Movement

Donald Trump

Fathers

Masculinity

Over the weekend, President Donald Trump successfully cut a trade deal with China, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/05/12/us-news/us-and-china-reach-deal-to-slash-tariffs-officials-say/?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=nypost&amp;utm_source=twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announcing</a> our biggest adversary has agreed to scale back tariffs on U.S. imports to just 10 percent for three months.
The announcement likely came as a shock to <a href="https://x.com/atrupar/status/1920878476837449764?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1920878476837449764%7Ctwgr%5E2ca4dd2d76e13621845f6a6b8705bbcb9bb0d590%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fmarkets%2Ffake-news-narrative-empty-ports-empty-shelves-suffers-spectacular-implosion%3Fref%3Dbiztoc.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the left-wing media</a> and <a href="https://x.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1921669522102104360" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Democrats</a> who swore it would never, ever happen. But it was a good reminder that the president understands what mainstream American media has failed to cover: China is losing this trade war. Chinese <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/04/30/business/chinese-factory-activity-plunges-as-trump-tariffs-hammer-bilateral-trade/?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=nypost&amp;utm_source=twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">factory floors</a> are deserted, and cargo bookings between the United States and China are <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/04/29/business/shipments-from-china-to-drop-by-35-due-to-trump-tariffs-port-of-la-chief/?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=nypost&amp;utm_source=twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">down</a> by nearly 50%.
And it’s not just China. Trump also recently announced a trade agreement with the <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-announces-his-first-trade-deal-with-the-uk-heres-whats-in-it-120417143.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">United Kingdom</a> and is closing in on deals with India, Japan, and South Korea.
Back at home, American manufacturers are seeing a <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2025/05/05/american-business-returns-trump-tariffs-china/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">surge in demand</a>, ramping up production, preparing to hire new workers, and announcing <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/gilead-announces-11-billion-new-investments-us-2025-05-07/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">billions</a> of dollars in new investments. Meanwhile, President Trump is determined to <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/05/12/trump-tax-bill/83584926007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cut taxes</a>, red tape, and regulations, all of which are sure to help American consumers and businesses alike.
You might think this success would change how American businesses think about Trump. Too often, big companies substitute their core values for the zero-sum game of appealing to one side of the political spectrum, costing them public trust and hurting their bottom line.
(Two words: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/19/dylan-mulvaney-bud-light-boycott" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bud Light</a>.)
Simply put, corporate America has a long track record of <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/08/15/news/walmart-doug-mcmillon-charlottesville-trump/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">poor decision-making</a> and choosing the wrong hills to die on. After initially embracing Trump, many big businesses have now turned on him, thanks to tariffs. They may want to reconsider.
After Donald Trump’s resounding victory last November, big retailers from Walmart to Amazon to Target were quick to <a href="https://thehill.com/business/5054083-trump-embrace-ceos-friends/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reach out</a>, <a href="https://thehill.com/business/5054083-trump-embrace-ceos-friends/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">applaud</a>, and align themselves with the new president, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/target-donated-1-million-to-trump-vance-inauguration-tariffs-dei-2025-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">donating millions</a> for inaugural ceremonies and even <a href="https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/trump-inauguration-president-2025/card/why-walmart-s-ceo-is-at-the-inauguration-8NmecvA3oo7tG8dPdI8F" target="_blank" rel="noopener">attending themselves</a> in person, <a href="https://thehill.com/business/5054083-trump-embrace-ceos-friends/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">congratulating</a> President Trump on his victory, and generally making nice with the White House’s newest occupant.
&#8220;Big congratulations to our 45th and now 47th President on an extraordinary political comeback and decisive victory. No nation has bigger opportunities,” wrote <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-victory-business-leaders-react/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on X</a>.
“<a href="https://fortune.com/2025/03/25/walmart-heiress-christy-walton-nonparitsan-advert/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The dignity of our country is not for sale</a>,” reads an ad by Walmart heiress Christy Walton placed in the New York Times shortly after President Trump’s win.
But the honeymoon ended as soon as it began.
&#8220;These tariffs may be aimed at China, but the bill will be charged to American consumers who will pay more at the checkout,&#8221; <a href="https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/03/22/big-retailers-push-back-on-trump-tarriffs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warned</a> the vice president of international trade for the Retail Industry Leaders Association, which represents Target and Best Buy, among other major retailers.
Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz said on <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/06/mattel-ceo-toy-manufacturing-trump-tariffs.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNBC</a> that manufacturing won’t come to America, but price hikes will.
Unfortunately for these businesses, gaslighting families into blaming Trump for the high prices won’t work. A recent focus group in Pennsylvania <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/04/11/focus-groups-pennsylvania-swing-voters-voice-tariff-confusion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> that, even though voters didn’t fully understand tariffs, they still supported Trump.
Bottom line: Big retail would do well to sit tight and stick with the president on this one.
The payoff will be more than just dollars and profits. They’ll have earned the trust of the public, demonstrating they take seriously the principles and pride of being an American, and in the long run, consumers will thank them with their wallets for years to come.
Carly Bird is a Republican strategist and founder and president of Bird’s Eye Consulting. She previously served as the national spokeswoman for Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

A Walmart Store Ahead Of Earnings Figures

A Warning To Big Retail: Stick With America First

China

Corporations

Tariffs

Leaders in the video game industry spent the better part of the last decade marketing radical gender ideology in a hobby predominantly practiced by children and teenagers. No gamer could escape transgender symbolism or out-of-place pride flags sprawled across his screen.
In recent months, however, gamers have had enough of the political propaganda. They’ve now adopted a so-called “non-buynary” movement, refusing to purchase games saturated in identity politics. Now, an unprecedented number of games are seeing poor sales and game studios are folding. The movement appears to be working.
The video game industry is finally experiencing its Bud Light moment.
Americans boycotted Bud Light in 2023 after the company hired transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney as a spokesperson. The boycott is still <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/aliciapark/2024/07/18/bud-light-boycott-effects-endure-brand-drops-to-third/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">affecting</a> the brand with Bud Light falling to third place in beer sales last summer. Throughout the past year, many gamers <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/06/20/the-video-game-industry-needs-a-bud-light-moment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">speculated</a> that the industry would have a reckoning similar to Bud Light when a majority of gamers put their foot down. 
In what became one of the largest flops in the history of gaming, Sony reportedly <a href="https://www.geeksandgamers.com/new-concord-details-reveal-a-higher-budget-and-troubled-development/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spent</a> $400 million to develop the shooting game “Concord.” Sony was banking on the new game to become a key new franchise, propelling the PlayStation brand into the future. Rather than focus on fun gameplay, “Concord” <a href="https://thatparkplace.com/playstation-studios-new-5v5-multiplayer-shooter-concord-gets-raked-over-the-coals-for-pushing-pronoun-nonsense-and-dei-character-designs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">forced</a> preferred pronouns and “DEI character designs” onto players. The new “DEI character designs” refer to modern game studios creating female characters who look masculine or overweight while also having LGBTQ identities.
After Sony announced “Concord,” <a href="https://thatparkplace.com/concord-lead-character-designer-believes-whites-must-acknowledge-their-privileged-position-and-then-actively-work-for-equality-also-claims-the-judicial-system-is-white-supremacy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">comments</a> from the game’s lead character designer were unearthed where he stated that “whites must acknowledge their privileged position, and then actively work for equality.” He added that “complicity allows systemic racism to persist.” In another comment, he stated that the “entire penal/judicial system is white supremacy.” His ideology obviously leaked into the game.
“Concord” officially launched in August 2024 to a negative reception. The game <a href="https://steamdb.info/app/2443720/charts/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">failed</a> to reach even 700 concurrent players online, becoming a massive disaster. Sony <a href="https://www.gamesradar.com/games/fps/its-official-concord-servers-are-now-offline-just-2-weeks-after-one-of-the-worst-launches-of-2024/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shut down</a> the servers after two weeks and refunded players who bought the game. Then, in October, Sony <a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2024/sony-shutting-down-seattle-area-game-developer-firewalk-studios/#:~:text=This%20is%20widely%20seen%20as,during%20the%20COVID%2D19%20lockdown." target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> the closure of “Concord’s” development company, Firewalk Studios.
Gamers simply refused to give their money to a studio that made a blatantly woke game. That’s not the only noteworthy example from 2024.
“Dragon Age” is a massive game franchise with millions of fans who waited a decade for another sequel. BioWare, however, failed to give fans what they wanted with the release of “Dragon Age: The Veilguard” in October. Much like “Concord,” the new “Dragon Age” game forced players into accepting radical gender ideology.
One of the main characters in “Dragon Age: The Veilguard” <a href="https://x.com/stillgray/status/1852700288039194637?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1852700288039194637%7Ctwgr%5E376b55af526beb0196649b50aaab7f3df0de99b3%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geeksandgamers.com%2Fdragon-age-the-veilguard-has-a-weaker-than-expected-opening-weekend%2F">identifies</a> as “non-binary” and it becomes a recurring plot point of the game. In one scene, a character <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7uoKLKbXxM">punishes</a> herself with pushups for misgendering the “non-binary” character. Gamers saw right through it and never truly bought into the game. The new “Dragon Age” only had <a href="https://gameworldobserver.com/2025/01/23/dragon-age-launch-sales-veilguard-vs-previous-games#:~:text=Dragon%20Age%3A%20Origins%20%E2%80%94%203.2%20million,to%20May%204%2C%202011)%3B">1.5 million players</a> within its first two months, 50% below expectations. The first game in the series sold 3.2 million copies in the same timeframe, with the second selling two million copies. BioWare then <a href="https://www.cbr.com/bioware-fires-dragon-age-the-veilguard-writers/">fired</a> all staff on the game’s writing team in January.
Another major release that floundered for similar reasons is “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.” Rocksteady Studios released the game in February 2024. “Suicide Squad” served as a sequel to the popular “Batman: Arkham” games but failed to live up to the hype.
The game has villain Harley Quinn <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1apjlvmoNTw">lecture</a> Batman for his brand of justice before outright killing the popular masked vigilante. Rocksteady Studios also used the game to <a href="https://boundingintocomics.com/video-games/rocksteady-confirms-next-suicide-squad-kill-the-justice-league-dlc-character-mrs-freeze-is-a-lesbian/">gender swap</a> Mr. Freeze into a character named “Mrs. Freeze” who is a lesbian. In the game, Mrs. Freeze has an <a href="https://x.com/Grummz/status/1816626214620266859?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1816629746081628529%7Ctwgr%5E2b1d45700113f6f5a01344f946e04201d378928f%7Ctwcon%5Es3_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthatparkplace.com%2Fsuicide-squad-kill-the-justice-leagues-lesbian-mrs-freeze-season-2-update-bombs-with-players-game-has-lost-95-of-its-players-since-february%2F">outfit</a> that includes the pride flag draped across her shoulder.
Not many gamers were impressed with “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s” direction. Forbes <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2024/05/09/wb-blames-suicide-squad-kill-the-justice-league-for-quarterly-miss/?sh=5d95b2a7ba87">reported</a> that “while we do not know sales figures, they appear dismal, and reports are that they were lower than even the worst-case scenario expectations for release.” Rocksteady Studios had <a href="https://www.gamesindustry.biz/rocksteady-cut-further-jobs-at-the-end-of-2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">multiple rounds</a> of layoffs last year after the game’s launch.
Game studios spent too many years preaching inclusivity and gender ideology to gamers and eventually lost the good will they earned in prior decades. People play games to briefly escape their problems in the real world – not to be forced into accepting a sinister ideology. The situation is even worse when these games are marketed to vulnerable children who are easily influenced.
For the video game industry to recover from its self-inflicted slump, studios must embrace the vision of pure enjoyable escapism of years past. Until that day arrives, gamers will undoubtedly continue to identify as “non-buynary.”
* * *
Casey Ryan is a writer and investigative reporter at Parents Defending Education.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Sony Cutting 900 Jobs In Its PlayStation Unit

Sony’s $400 Million Misfire: Why The Video Game Industry Is Facing A Bud Light Moment

Blizzard Entertainment

Entertainment

LGBTQ

Opinion

Video Games

A newly released Bud Light commercial featuring comedian Shane Gillis is getting positive feedback from viewers as it subtly targets edgy, progressive advertising and champions the common man.
The ad spot is called “Wrong Commercial.” In it, Gillis poses as a regular guy who was scheduled to be in a beer commercial at a bar but instead finds himself in an over-the-top artistic perfume ad shot in black and white — which also features a model holding a snake and a rock star guitarist trying to hand him a fistful of sand. 
Gillis reacts as any normal person would, questioning his co-stars with one-liner quips, until the camera cuts to the alt-rock character who was supposed to appear in the perfume ad sitting in a bar enjoying a plate of wings and a Bud Light.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Shane Gillis x Bud Light | Wrong Commercial" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TO6hngy9Ajw?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Gillis has become the new face of Bud Light. The controversial comedian is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-comedian-snl-fired-offensive-comments-was-james-barrett">best known</a> for being fired from “Saturday Night Live” in 2019 after decades-old comments he made were deemed “offensive, hurtful, and unacceptable.” He returned to host the sketch comedy show in February 2024. Gillis has been described as politically moderate, which makes him appealing to conservatives in the leftist-dominated comedy space. He’s known for making jokes about both sides. 
The new Bud Light ad wouldn’t have been noteworthy years ago when the beer brand was known for clever advertising. But everything appears different in the wake of the Bud Light scandal that led to the biggest successful conservative boycott ever. Former Anheuser-Busch VP Alissa Heinerscheid decided that Bud Light’s image was “fratty” and “out of touch.” This led to the brand sending a promotional can to trans-identifying activist Dylan Mulvaney, who publicized it on social media. 
The resulting backlash cost the brand more than $1 billion in lost revenue and lost them their title as best-selling beer. The Bud Light debacle is considered one of the worst marketing fiascos in history.
Now as they work to rebuild the brand, this commercial appears to mock woke advertising. It was released the same week as the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/woke-is-dead-jaguar-gets-mocked-for-colorful-car-free-brand-re-launch">brand re-launch of Jaguar</a>, which is being scorned for being overly pretentious and most crucially, for not having any cars in it.
Reactions to the “Wrong Commercial” are mostly positive, though many fans say it’s not enough to overcome Bud Light’s past sins.
“Big fan of Shane. There may be redemption in your future,” one commenter <a href="https://x.com/troi_oi_la_troi/status/1859358391153389769">wrote</a>.
“Pretty good. Probably should have shaved 10 seconds off it. You want people to enjoy it and feel a tinge of nostalgia but not linger too long on why they rejected you. I give it 7/10. But you need to keep doing better to win back your base,” another person wrote.
“I see your [sic] trying Bud Lite and I appreciate it,” a third person <a href="https://x.com/WaylonJennings/status/1858956641359852017">said</a>.

Bud Light Tries To Woo Back Customers With New Commercial Starring Shane Gillis

advertising

comedian

Wokeness

It&#8217;s no secret that Disney isn&#8217;t doing well lately. They just laid off nearly 15% of the workforce at Pixar, their movie studio that used to produce guaranteed hits. But Pixar&#8217;s recent films &#8220;Elemental&#8221; and &#8220;Lightyear&#8221; were bombs, and the division hasn&#8217;t turned a profit in more than two years. People just didn&#8217;t go for the strained interracial/immigrant metaphor in &#8220;Elemental&#8221; or the same-sex kiss in “Lightyear,” or the rehashed, stale vibe of both projects.
Additionally, Disney&#8217;s much-touted &#8220;fully immersive&#8221; hotel called “Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser,” shut down late last year, after operating for less than two years. Disney had spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the project, apparently on the theory that people cared so much about the &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; brand that they&#8217;d be willing to spend thousands of dollars for the privilege of staying two nights in a windowless concrete building posing as a spaceship. That didn&#8217;t pan out. Apparently people weren’t excited to stay in a hotel where the experience is seemingly designed to be as aggressively unpleasant as possible.
That same quarter, Disney&#8217;s streaming service, Disney+, reported a loss of more than a million subscribers. And that&#8217;s not even getting into Disney&#8217;s decision to get involved in Florida politics, on the side of activist teachers who want to talk to kindergartners about &#8220;gender identity&#8221; and &#8220;sexual orientation.&#8221;
Faced with this brand collapse, Disney had two options. One option was to retool their content to focus on entertainment and family values instead of activism, which is what Disney used to do, when it was a universally beloved and much more financially successful company. They could get back to their roots. Not in the sense of churning out more remakes, but in the sense of being a company that makes wholesome family films that capture a sense of wonder and imagination. 
The other option was to keep doing exactly what they’ve been doing, and continue to shove the same agenda — the equity/representation/LGBTQ approach — that they&#8217;ve been pushing for years now.
Eight months ago, Disney&#8217;s CEO, Bob Iger, publicly pledged to pursue the first option. He declared that Disney would refocus its efforts on entertainment, not political messaging. That was the plan, or at least the plan that was shared with the public. But that&#8217;s not what happened. 
Disney, over the past eight months, has apparently decided to double down on agenda-driven content, to the point that they&#8217;re openly attacking their own fans. It&#8217;s a remarkable turn of events, and it&#8217;s one that&#8217;s worth discussing because this development isn&#8217;t unique to Disney. And it suggests that &#8220;wokeness&#8221; may not be the best way to describe what we&#8217;re seeing at Disney and other major corporations like it. That&#8217;s certainly part of what we&#8217;re seeing, but there&#8217;s something else going on here. It looks a lot like corporate mediocrity run amok — the private-sector version of what we see across the public-sector bureaucracy. Unimpressive people with impressive-sounding credentials, who check the right demographic boxes, are taking the helm of businesses and products that they don&#8217;t understand. They&#8217;ve insinuated themselves into these companies like a cancer that&#8217;s evidently impossible to remove. And even when the company CEO publicly tells them one thing, they&#8217;re free to do another.
To get a better idea of what I mean, take a look at this interview from the other day, featuring Leslye Headland, the creator of the new Disney &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; show, &#8220;The Acolyte.&#8221; I don&#8217;t want to prejudice you in any way, so watch this clip with that introduction. This is the showrunner talking about her show. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aSFW5OO8fI" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Watch</a>: 
<iframe loading="lazy" title="ff" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OTRtQ_l8sPo?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Don&#8217;t worry about the story, or the plot, or the characters. Who has time for that? Instead, just listen to these two women call old &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; characters gay, and then giggle like schoolgirls. They are excited that this new &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; show will be the gayest &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; show yet. Which is, in every way, the exact opposite of what the audience actually wants.
The only thing you learn from that interview is that Leslye Headland is gay and has no respect whatsoever for her audience or her own show. This is how Disney is promoting the latest entry in a franchise they spent $4 billion to buy a decade ago. And that has a lot of fans wondering how exactly she was chosen for the role of showrunner. If her role is to push some subversive woke ideology, she&#8217;s not being very subversive about it. She&#8217;s just angering as many fans as she possibly can. That&#8217;s all this is.
And she&#8217;s not the only one doing it. The CEO of Lucasfilm — a woman named Kathleen Kennedy — just came out in defense of her showrunner. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/29/arts/television/leslye-headland-the-acolyte.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kennedy declared</a> that if you&#8217;re not a fan of how Leslye Headland is handling herself, then you probably hate women. 
<blockquote>I think Leslye has struggled a little bit with it. I think a lot of the women who step into Star Wars struggle with this a bit more. Because of the fan base being so male-dominated, they sometimes get attacked in ways that can be quite personal. &#8230; My belief is that storytelling does need to be representative of all people. That’s an easy decision for me.</blockquote>
Yes, she really said that. &#8220;Storytelling does need to be representative of all people,&#8221; says the CEO of Lucasfilm, as she mocks her own fanbase. These people are so dumb that they don&#8217;t even understand the words coming out of their own mouths. &#8220;Representative of all people,&#8221; really? Are they going to have eight billion characters in this show, one for each person on Earth? How exactly is this going to work? Is storytelling supposed to be “representative of all people” — whatever that means — or is it supposed to be representative of the creative vision of the storyteller?
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1381-disney-churns-out-its-gayest-star-wars-show-yet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h4>
I was going to show some more clips of these women, but it&#8217;s honestly too painful to subject you to. These are people who can&#8217;t even communicate without descending into valley girl nonsense, and they&#8217;re putting together shows that they expect millions of people to watch. Kathleen Kennedy was lucky enough to work with Steven Spielberg, and Leslye Headland worked on rom-coms with titles like &#8220;Sleeping With Other People.&#8221; Those are their credentials, and they&#8217;re considered impressive in the industry. So they get to continue butchering &#8220;Star Wars.” 
By the way, “The Acolyte” was released this week and — as has become a new tradition for “Star Wars” films and shows — it has a very high critics score on Rotten Tomatoes but a failing grade of 45% from the audience. 
Joel Berry, who apparently <a href="https://x.com/JoelWBerry/status/1798332506640626023?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">subjected himself</a> to at least some of the show, offered this review: 
<blockquote>The Acolyte is a queer, Marxist vandalization of the myth of Star Wars. In The Acolyte, the Force is a metaphor for cultural hegemonic power. The Jedi are a metaphor for cisgender white oppressors who hoard the power for themselves. Yes, it really is that obnoxious and stupid.</blockquote>
The account <a href="https://x.com/WallStreetSilv?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">Wall Street Silver</a> offered this viewer warning: 
<blockquote>The Acolyte, Star Wars new series streaming, very woke. 1) main character has two mothers 2) main Jedi characters are all Black and Asian, no white men 3) only speaking role for white men in first episode is prisoners on prison ship.</blockquote>
So Disney has decided to right the ship by ramming it directly into another iceberg. That’s not to pick on &#8220;The Acolyte&#8221; too much, although it obviously deserves it. Because of the fact that Disney is now pumping out &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; shows on an assembly line, there&#8217;s another one I can mock as well called &#8220;Tales of the Empire.&#8221; This one is apparently geared towards kids, and I guess it features a nonbinary Jedi, based on how all of the characters use &#8220;they/them&#8221; pronouns to refer to his corpse. Watch this, if you can get through it:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="003 Star Wars They:Them Show" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XVGR4oFc2Z0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
This is the result of Disney&#8217;s big plan to focus on &#8220;entertainment&#8221; and not &#8220;messaging.&#8221; We have nonbinary Jedi and girl bosses making sure we get the gayest &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; ever.&#8221; And that&#8217;s not all.
As Bloomberg recently reported, Disney is now banking on the upcoming film &#8220;Inside Out 2&#8221; as the, &#8220;key to restoring the magic.&#8221; They think this film — a sequel to a movie from 2015 — is going to be a smash hit, to the point that they&#8217;re going to give it a 100-day run in theaters. As Bloomberg reports: 
<blockquote>If families show up for Inside Out 2 in the kinds of numbers Pixar used to see, it will reaffirm the studio’s standing. But if the movie fails, it will fuel concerns about the company’s relevance.</blockquote>
So what&#8217;s &#8220;Inside Out 2&#8221; going to be about? It&#8217;s hard to say, because it&#8217;s not out yet. But after some Googling, I came across this headline from an outlet called Pride.com. Here&#8217;s their assessment, based on the trailer: 
<blockquote>The long-awaited sequel to Disney and Pixar’s Inside Out isn’t hitting theaters until this summer, but the official trailer dropped this week…and it’s looking a little gay. &#8230; Fans think Inside Out 2 is going to be gay AF.</blockquote>
How brave is that? Are they also going to gay-ify “Inside Out” — which was kind of a middling Pixar entry in the first place? Who knows? But based on the fact that they can’t make anything that isn’t gay — we can assume the answer is yes.
This is all very woke, yes. It’s also incredibly lame and stale and unimaginative. That would also be an apt descriptor for what Disney is doing with its theme parks. As the writer <a href="https://x.com/KeenanPeachy/status/1798134848294637569?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Peachy Keenan documented</a> on X/Twitter yesterday, Disney is currently re-theming their famous &#8220;Splash Mountain&#8221; ride because apparently it is racist. And they&#8217;re creating a politically correct replacement.
Keenan watched all of Disney&#8217;s promotional materials, and she put together a comparison of the old ride with the new one. Basically, the new ride won&#8217;t have Princess Tiana in a nice dress with a handsome prince, or even a storyline of any kind: 
<blockquote>Instead, you get a lot of dead space, repeated boring animatronic who look like zombies compared to the Pirates animatronics, and Tiana—incredibly—in ugly baggy pants, no makeup, no nonsense hair, zero glamour. &#8230; It&#8217;s Girl Boss Tiana and she&#8217;s dressed like a Jungle Cruise.</blockquote>
Sounds thrilling. I was trying to figure out why all of this is happening at Disney — why they&#8217;re sabotaging their own brand, despite what the CEO said they&#8217;d do. And it&#8217;s clear that, whatever&#8217;s going on here, it&#8217;s not unique to Disney.
Consider what just happened at Cracker Barrel. Their CEO is a woman named Julie Felss Masino. She took the job last year. Previously, she worked at Taco Bell, Mattel, Sprinkles Cupcakes, Starbucks, and Macy&#8217;s. Of course, the clientele of every single one of these companies is very different from the typical Cracker Barrel, which skews older. But in general, her old jobs were mostly in the food industry, just like ”The Acolyte&#8221; showrunner&#8217;s jobs were mostly in the entertainment industry. And that&#8217;s good enough, so Julie Masino got the job.
Unfortunately, it&#8217;s not working out too well. Masino just announced on a call with investors that the company is, &#8220;just not as relevant as we once were.&#8221; To &#8220;ignite growth,&#8221; she said, it&#8217;s necessary to &#8220;revitalize&#8221; the brand. She then outlined a bunch of generic initiatives, like rewards programs that every other restaurant offers. Her announcement sent the stock down 11% immediately, putting it down nearly 50% in the past year. And why wouldn&#8217;t the stock drop? The new CEO clearly views Cracker Barrel as completely indistinguishable from every other place she&#8217;s ever worked. If anything, she probably hates the brand. And we can assume she hates the brand’s primarily blue collar, Christian clientele. 
We saw something similar with that Bud Light VP, Alissa Heinerscheid, when she dismissed her own customers as &#8220;fratty&#8221; and said Bud Light needed a rebrand. They brought on Dylan Mulvaney, and we all know how that turned out. Alissa Heinerscheid, like Julie Masino, had great credentials. She went to Harvard and Wharton, and had worked at big companies like Listerine and General Mills. But she didn&#8217;t understand Bud Light or care about the customers, so she destroyed the brand.
That&#8217;s now unfolding at Cracker Barrel as well. And it&#8217;s a very preventable, slow-motion collapse. On social media, someone using the handle &#8220;Pine Barron&#8221; summed up the problem better than anyone I&#8217;ve seen. Here&#8217;s what he wrote, describing an alternative to Cracker Barrel&#8217;s current CEO: 
<blockquote>Imagine a CEO who actually loved Midwestern and Southern culture. What about pop up concerts and endorsements by Zach Bryan and Morgan Wallen? Why not lean into its heritage as an &#8216;after church&#8217; spot and create programs for church groups including discounts and shuttle bus services. Grassroots evangelical support has made huge hits of movies like the Sound of Freedom and restaurant chains like Chik-Fil-A. &#8230; Imagine a public company with leadership that didn’t hate the blue collar evangelical population. There are so many obvious partnership opportunities with brands like NASCAR or country music stars. I don’t think this is wokeness or girlbossery per se, but rather typical corporate mediocrity. &#8230; They hired a generic MBA type who built a career on the massive brand equity of Yum Brands and Starbucks. &#8230; Just a cog in the corporate machine. I hope we will see titans of industry again but this is not how we’ll get them.</blockquote>
That does a fairly good job of putting into perspective everything we&#8217;ve been seeing over the past few years at Disney, Bud Light, and so many other major corporations. And I think it&#8217;s a more apt explanation than simply chalking all of this decline up to &#8220;wokeness.&#8221;
This trend of hiring interchangeable CEOs with resumes and trendy demographics has been an unmitigated disaster because it overlooks what the leader of every company should have, at a bare minimum — which is an understanding of their product and a genuine respect for their customers. Without that, you get shows like &#8220;The Acolyte.&#8221; You get Dylan Mulvaney and angry customers, and your stock collapses along with your brand.
All the combined efforts of feminism and diversity and equity and wokeness have brought us to this point. But it&#8217;s bureaucracy and inertia that&#8217;s keeping it alive, long after everyone&#8217;s tired of it. That inertia is the reason why — whether you&#8217;re going to a restaurant or a movie theater — you&#8217;re now guaranteed a product that&#8217;s as mediocre as the people who created it.

Disney Acolyte

Disney Churns Out Its ‘Gayest’ Star Wars Show Yet

Disney Churns Out Its 'Gayest' Star Wars Show Yet

Disney

Pixar

Readers Pass

Star Wars

The cookie company Oreo may be the next company to be targeted for its capitulation to the LGBT agenda, a watchdog organization warned.
Oreo, whose parent organization is Mondelez International, has <a href="https://www.oreo.com/pride">boasted</a> of its partnership with the group PFLAG for years. Last October, Oreo<a href="https://www.windycitytimes.com/lgbt/First-Lady-Jill-Biden-to-open-PFLAG-National-Convention/75629.html"> co-sponsored</a> PFLAG&#8217;s 2023 National Convention.
PFLAG “<a href="https://pflag.org/resource/lobbying/">actively lobbies</a> against state laws that seek to protect minors from medical butchery, <a href="https://pflag.org/resource/medical-bans/">pushes so-called &#8220;gender-affirming&#8221; procedures onto school-aged children</a> as young as three years old,” Mia Cathell of Townhall <a href="https://townhall.com/tipsheet/miacathell/2024/05/22/oreo-shareholder-meeting-n2639163">noted</a>. “PFLAG also <a href="https://pflag.org/resource/book-ban-resolutions/">battles to place pornographic books in public schools</a> and libraries where children can easily access them.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
We&#39;re celebrating our longtime partnership with <a href="https://twitter.com/PFLAG?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@pflag</a>, who turns 50 this year. Thanks for your iconic work and for helping us all to be better allies ensuring that every LGBTQ+ person is safe, celebrated, empowered, and loved 🌈 <a href="https://t.co/BGNotqNKOg">pic.twitter.com/BGNotqNKOg</a>
&mdash; OREO Cookie (@Oreo) <a href="https://twitter.com/Oreo/status/1671521735240294401?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 21, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
On Wednesday, the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), a Mondelez shareholder, will appear at the annual shareholder meeting and present a proposal warning shareholders that the company is endangering profits by its association with leftist and LGBT causes. The proposal <a href="https://nlpc.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Mondelez-Proposal-2024-1.pdf">states</a>:
<blockquote>
Mondelez placed its iconic snack label, Oreo, in partnership with radical LGBTQ activist group PFLAG. The cookie brand sponsored the group’s conference this year, whose centerpiece theme was to advocate for the placement of sexually explicit books in school libraries.
The company lists the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner as one of its many “Partners and Industry Memberships.” UN Human Rights paints a moral equivalence between Hamas and the State of Israel, mostly downplaying the vicious and unprovoked attacks of the terrorists while more frequently condemning Israel’s military response in Gaza, where the terror group uses civilians and hospitals as shields to cover its weapons stockpiles and tunnel systems.</blockquote>
“NLPC’s resolution calls upon the multinational snack giant to scrutinize areas of risk where it has engaged in disturbing relationships with outside organizations, such as the one Oreo has with PFLAG. Other examples in the proposal cite Mondelez’s support for the Marxist, <a href="https://nlpc.org/tag/defund-the-police">anti-law enforcement</a> group <a href="https://nlpc.org/tag/black-lives-matter-global-network-foundation">Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation</a>, and the company’s partnership with the <a href="https://nlpc.org/tag/anti-semitism">anti-Semitic</a> UN Human Rights,” NLPC <a href="https://nlpc.org/corporate-integrity-project/oreo-and-ritz-brands-are-used-to-promote-woke-causes/">declared</a>.
“The political winds have shifted from just a few years ago, yet Mondelez is still living in the past as if nothing has changed,” NLPC Chairman Peter Flaherty stated in <a href="https://nlpc.org/corporate-integrity-project/oreo-and-ritz-brands-are-used-to-promote-woke-causes/">a press release</a>. “Now that the extreme transgenderism push has inevitably progressed to endanger children, corporate involvement in social justice issues is more treacherous than ever.”

USA Grocery Products

Oreo, Proud Partner Of Group Championing Gender Transition For Kids, May Get Bud Light Treatment, Watchdog Warns

Gender Transition

Oreo

Transgender

Dylan Mulvaney, the trans-identifying male influencer whose partnership brought Bud Light to its knees last year, has a new music video out called &#8220;Days of Girlhood.&#8221;
The video is based on Mulvaney&#8217;s &#8220;Days of Girlhood&#8221; social media series, which brought him into the public eye two years ago.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
According to Dylan Mulvaney and his new song, &quot;girlhood&quot; consists of: &#8211; Not being able to get out of bed &#8211; Popping prescription pills &#8211; Retail therapy &#8211; Doing the &quot;walk of shame&quot; &#8211; Not remembering who you hook up with &#8211; Overspending &#8211; Flirting for drinks &#8211; Listening to the… <a href="https://t.co/o0gT0X9riq">pic.twitter.com/o0gT0X9riq</a>
&mdash; Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1768031933907320963?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2024</a></blockquote>
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The pop song goes through the days of the week in a &#8220;girl&#8217;s&#8221; life — on Monday she can&#8217;t get out of bed, Tuesday she picks up prescription medications, Wednesday she has retail therapy, Thursday she does the walk of shame and &#8220;didn&#8217;t even know his name,&#8221; Friday she overspends, Saturday she flirt with drinks, and Sunday she has a breakdown in the bath.
&#8220;Calling women of all ages. Girls like me gotta learn the basics,&#8221; Mulvaney sings in the nearly four-minute video.
&#8220;Boys on the dance floor, it&#8217;s time to clear. The patriarchy&#8217;s over. You can hold our beer!&#8221; Mulvaney sings in a possible reference to the Bud Light fiasco.
Bud Light&#8217;s collaboration with Mulvaney last year sparked a boycott from customers. The beer brand&#8217;s parent company may have <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/03/business/anheuser-busch-revenue-bud-light-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lost</a> as much as $1.4 billion in sales in the aftermath.
The backlash to the music video was immediate, with some critics saying the song promoted sexist stereotypes of women.
&#8220;Dylan Mulvaney just released a music video on how to&#8230; you guessed it&#8230; be a girl,&#8221; Jaimee Michell, founder of Gays Against Groomers, posted on X.
&#8220;Back up ladies, let a real man tell you what a woman is,&#8221; posted Libby Emmons, editor-in-chief of The Post Millennial.
&#8220;Every part of &#8216;girlhood&#8217; that Dylan Mulvaney imitates is an offensive stereotype,&#8221; posted Blaze TV host Lauren Chen. &#8220;Stupidity, promiscuity, emotional instability, materialism.&#8221;
&#8220;The craziest part of Dylan Mulvaney’s new music video is even after hormones and surgery, he still looks like a total dude. Just an unhealthy one wearing girl clothes,&#8221; posted conservative podcast host Liz Wheeler.
Mulvaney also <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C4bXlSovRpn/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shared</a> a video on himself on Instagram saying that the theme of his past year, his second year of &#8220;girlhood,&#8221; was &#8220;pain.&#8221;
“Two years of publicly transitioning as a woman,” he said, “or two years of being your worst nightmare, whichever way you see it. But I see it as a win.”
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Mulvaney also said that all proceeds from the music video will go to The Trevor Project, a leftist nonprofit that focuses on LGBT youth.
Also this week, Mulvaney <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/03/14/business/dylan-mulvaney-says-she-tried-to-fix-the-bud-light-boycott/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealed</a> at an event in Austin that he had tried to &#8220;fix&#8221; the Bud Light situation by pitching a “Western commercial” to the brand, where a cowboy and a trans-identifying person share a beer.
However, the company did not bite.

US-ENTERTAINMENT-WIF-OSCAR

Dylan Mulvaney’s New ‘Days Of Girlhood’ Music Video Sparks Backlash

Dylan Mulvaney's New 'Days Of Girlhood' Music Video Sparks Backlash

Celebrities

Dylan Mulvaney

Gender

pop music

U.S.

Doritos has fired a trans-identifying male influencer who <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/doritos-spain-faces-backlash-transgender-brand-ambassadors-resurfaced-tweets-1875763">reportedly</a> posted sexual comments about children in the past.
Over the weekend, Samantha Hudson, a trans-identifying man and social media influencer, appeared in a 50-second Instagram promo called “Crunch Talks” for Doritos Spain, which is part of PepsiCo Spain.
A Doritos Spain spokesperson <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/boycottdoritos-spanish-trans-influencer-samantha-hudson-1234981041/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Rolling Stone that the company had launched a campaign with Hudson on Sunday before they were aware of his previous comments.
On Monday, after the company was “made aware of Samantha’s deleted Tweets from around 2015,” the spokesperson said the Instagram video was removed.
“We have ended the relationship and stopped all related campaign activity due to the comments,” the Doritos Spain spokesperson <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/03/06/us-news/doritos-spain-fires-transgender-influencer-ivan-ranedo-over-controversial-tweets/?utm_campaign=nypost&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=social" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “We strongly condemn words or actions that promote violence or sexism of any kind.”
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Doritos facing backlash for hiring TRANS man to be the face of the brand in Spain. 
Samantha Hudson, a biological man, has sparked outrage across the country for some of his tweets where he shares his fantasies about abusing kids.
H/T <a href="https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@libsoftiktok</a> / <a href="https://twitter.com/hermanntertsch?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@hermanntertsch</a> <a href="https://t.co/Ef3z6Xir10">pic.twitter.com/Ef3z6Xir10</a>
&mdash; Oli London (@OliLondonTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/OliLondonTV/status/1764688557136843201?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 4, 2024</a></blockquote>
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🇪🇸 | Fuerte polémica en España tras conocerse que Doritos eligió a Samantha Hudson como embajadora de su marca en el país europeo.
Samantha Hudson: &#8211; Ha admitido ser una persona pedófila &#8211; Se identifica como una chica trans no binaria &#8211; Se burla abiertamente de las víctimas de… <a href="https://t.co/ur3l2orx3S">pic.twitter.com/ur3l2orx3S</a>
&mdash; UHN Plus (@UHN_Plus) <a href="https://twitter.com/UHN_Plus/status/1764655776813969632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 4, 2024</a></blockquote>
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The campaign’s removal and Hudson’s termination was due to Hudson’s history of controversial comments, not his gender identity, the spokesperson <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/boycottdoritos-spanish-trans-influencer-samantha-hudson-1234981041/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
“Being perfect is not easy, but you end up getting used to it,” Hudson says in the Doritos Instagram spot, according to a translation.
By Monday, several jarring sexual posts about children that Hudson allegedly wrote resurfaced, sparking outrage online.
“I want to do thuggish things [to] a 12-year-old girl,” Hudson allegedly posted on X several years ago, adding a description of an extreme sexual crime against a child.
Hudson, 24, was <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/doritos-spain-faces-backlash-transgender-brand-ambassadors-resurfaced-tweets-1875763" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> 15 when he allegedly made that post.
“In the middle of the street in Mallorca in panties and screaming that I’m a nymphomaniac in front of a super beautiful 8-year-old girl,” Hudson allegedly wrote in another post.
Hudson also appears to have previously said that he wants to destroy the traditional nuclear family.
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&quot;I advocate for the destruction and for the annihilation of the traditional family.&quot; Brand ambassador for Doritos and self-described pedophiIe Samantha Hudson <a href="https://t.co/j4hPgmoaxi">pic.twitter.com/j4hPgmoaxi</a>
&mdash; End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) <a href="https://twitter.com/EndWokeness/status/1764724659088482349?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 4, 2024</a></blockquote>
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“I advocate for the destruction and for the annihilation of the traditional, monogamous, nuclear family,” Hudson said in a video posted to X by several social media users.
“Not that I’m going to beat up my parents,” he added to laughter from an audience.
In yet another X post, Hudson allegedly said that he hates women who are rape victims.
“I hate women who are victims of rape and who turn to self-help centers to overcome their trauma. k fat wh****,” Hudson allegedly wrote.
Hudson himself previously attempted to explain away his old posts when they came to light after he became a minor celebrity, Rolling Stone reported.
“Some tweets that I posted in 2015 are resurfacing and honestly I don’t know what to say, I don’t remember having written such barbarities,” he <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/boycottdoritos-spanish-trans-influencer-samantha-hudson-1234981041/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>, according to a translation of his posts. “At that time I dedicated myself to saying nonsense, the heavier the better, because I thought that ‘dark humor’ was funny.”
The backlash over Doritos Spain’s decision to partner with Hudson echoes the reaction in the U.S. to Bud Light collaborating with trans-identifying influencer Dylan Mulvaney last year.
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Bud Light’s parent company <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/03/business/anheuser-busch-revenue-bud-light-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lost</a> $395 million in the aftermath of a boycott.
Target also faced an expensive boycott last year over its Pride Month merchandise, which <a href="https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-misinformation-target-lgbtq-1203e875adcc7c86f62252d4ace1a738" target="_blank" rel="noopener">included</a> a kid’s swimsuit with a tag reading “thoughtfully fit on multiple body types and gender expressions” and “The Pronoun Book” aimed at children.

PepsiCo Products Ahead Of Earnings Released

Doritos Fires Trans-Identifying Influencer After Backlash To Sexual Comments About Children

Business

Europe

Food

Social Issues

Spain

Target

Though the San Francisco 49ers came up short at Super Bowl LVIII, losing to the Kansas City Chiefs 25-22, their defeat on Feb. 11 pales in comparison to the one suffered by Bud Light during the weeks surrounding the big game.
This year&#8217;s Super Bowl achieved record viewership numbers, but beer sales declined 5.3% overall for the two weeks ending on Feb. 17 compared to the same period in 2023, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/business/retail/bud-light-missed-out-on-the-super-bowl-party-a5387584" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to data compiled by Bum Williams Consulting and reported by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). Bud Light sales alone plunged a catastrophic 30.1% compared to last year. Its sister brands Budweiser, Busch Light, and Michelob Ultra fared little better, experiencing drops of 17.7%, 7.2%, and 3.1%, respectively.
The brand experienced disastrous sales numbers after the Super Bowl despite a massive ad campaign during the game itself, featuring NFL legend Peyton Manning and musician Post Malone, the WSJ noted.
Meanwhile, rival brands Miller Lite and Coors Lite (both owned by parent company Molson-Coors) cashed in, with the latter seeing a nearly 10% increase in sales while the former saw a more modest 5% bump.
Modelo Especial also saw a 6.9% increase in sales and continued its streak as the nation&#8217;s favorite beer since it dethroned Bud Light back in May. Modelo as well as Corona are owned by the same company that owns Bud Light, but the U.S. distribution rights are owned by the Chicago-based Constellation Brands as a result of an antitrust lawsuit in 2013.
That Super Bowl slump isn&#8217;t even the latest bad news for Bud Light. In fact, it&#8217;s been a rough year for the formerly beloved beer brand after its parent company, Anheuser-Busch, decided to partner with trans-identifying influencer Dylan Mulvaney in the spring of 2023.
According to the fourth quarter earnings report that came out Thursday, AB InBev (the company that owns Anheuser-Busch) lost <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/29/business/bud-light-boycott-ab-inbev-sales/index.html">up to $1.4 billion</a> last year due to the firestorm of controversy that surrounded its Mulvaney partnership. The company identified the U.S. market in particular as the source of the massive loss, claiming its growth “was constrained  by the performance of our US business.”
“Revenue declined by 17.3% with sales-to-retailers (STRs) down by 12.1%, primarily due to the volume decline of Bud Light. Sales-to-wholesalers (STWs) declined by 16.1% as shipments lagged stronger depletions in December,” the company’s report said.
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AB InBev CEO Michel Doukeris told investors that the company was recovering from its losses, but only at a glacial pace — about 0.1 to 0.2 percentage points every 3 to 4 weeks. From May 2023 to February 2024, Bud Light had regained only 1.2 points of its lost market share, according to CNN.
Mulvaney had first promoted Bud Light in a video of himself drinking the beverage in a bathtub on Feb. 11, 2023, but the backlash didn&#8217;t truly erupt until Mulvaney posted a second video for March Madness.
In the April 1 video, Mulvaney, infamous for a series of videos chronicling his transition called “Days of Girlhood,” <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/from-dylan-mulvaney-tanking-bud-light-to-the-downfall-of-disney-the-biggest-cultural-shifts-of-2023">showed off</a> a can of the light beer with his face on it. A few days later, Bud Light confirmed that it had indeed signed a brand partnership deal with Mulvaney in an effort to “authentically connect with audiences.”
Bud Light tried to excuse the partnership as just one of dozens it maintains with influencers around the world and noted that the Mulvaney-themed can was not for sale to the general public, but the firestorm had already been unleashed. Almost overnight, a beer brand widely regarded as a blue-collar American beverage became anathema among conservatives.
In the first week of the controversy, Bud Light sales <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/bud-light-sales-decline-dylan-mulvaney-transgender-boycott-1796451" target="_blank" rel="noopener">decreased</a> 11%, and its stock <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2023/05/31/anheuser-busch-stock-enters-bear-territory-amid-anti-trans-bud-light-backlash/?sh=11c6283e1bfe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">plunged</a> 20% by the beginning of June, losing Anheuser-Busch billions in market value. Also in June, Bud Light <a href="https://thehill.com/business/4050296-bud-light-falls-from-no-1-us-sales-spot-for-first-time-in-more-than-20-years/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lost</a> its place as the best-selling beer in America to Modelo Especial. Anheuser-Busch’s overall U.S. revenue was down 10.5% in the 2nd quarter of 2023 (April-June) compared to the same period in 2022, and the company’s sales to U.S. retailers fell 14% by <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12369087/Anheuser-Busch-lost-staggering-395-MILLION-sales-plunged-14-year-Bud-Lights-partnership-transgender-influencer-Dylan-Mulvaney.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">early August</a>. The company lost nearly $400 million <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/03/business/anheuser-busch-revenue-bud-light-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in revenue</a> during the 2nd quarter alone.
The 3rd quarter (July-September) of 2023 was even worse for the company, which reported a 13.5% drop in revenue per 100 liters, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/31/investing/bud-light-anheuser-busch-earnings/index.html">according</a> to CNN, while sales to American retailers decreased 17% in the same period.
In response to the backlash, the beer industry&#8217;s self-regulating body, the Beer Institute, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/one-year-later-how-bud-lights-dylan-mulvaney-fiasco-pushed-beer-industry-to-rewrite-its-ad-standards">revised</a> its ad standards and added new language regarding brewers&#8217; partnerships with social media influencers. Under the new standards, Mulvaney would not be an acceptable partner for a beer company because of the high percentage of his audience that is under the legal drinking age.
Prior to its Super Bowl LVIII ad campaign, Bud Light <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bud-light-budweiser-release-camo-harley-davidson-limited-edition-cans-as-sales-continue-to-plummet">released</a> patriotic-themed ads that emphasized the company&#8217;s American roots and even released camo and Harley Davidson cans to try to win back disgruntled consumers, to no avail. Anheuser-Busch&#8217;s CEO, Brendan Whitworth, was roundly criticized for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/anheuser-busch-ceo-breaks-long-silence-amid-dylan-mulvaney-pr-crisis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a statement</a> he made two weeks after the controversy began that failed to make mention of Mulvaney, transgenderism — or offer an apology to offended customers.
It&#8217;s been a rough year for Bud Light, and despite the brand&#8217;s best efforts it hasn&#8217;t been able to recapture its old market share or mollify the anger of conservative customers. The Super Bowl weekend, instead of the nice boost in sales it usually represents, instead crowned nearly a year of financial disaster for Anheuser-Busch.
Bud Light has tried everything from celebrity cameos to pandering, nostalgia-laden commercials to practically giving away free beer, and it has so far failed to bring people back to what was once America&#8217;s favorite beer. Without a genuine redress of grievances from the executives at Bud Light, the brand may not see the end of this long, financially painful road in 2024.

The Sphere Arena displaying Super Bowl LVIII signage

Bud Light Was The Real Loser Of The Super Bowl — And 2023

Anheuser-Busch

LGBT

Super Bowl

Bud Light’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch, is estimated to have lost over one billion dollars in sales after the brand faced boycotts from conservatives over its partnership with trans-identifying influencer Dylan Mulvaney.  
Anheuser-Busch’s organic revenue dropped $1.4 billion in North America last year, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/29/business/bud-light-boycott-ab-inbev-sales/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to company data reviewed by CNN. Much of this drop is believed to be related to the company&#8217;s disastrous marketing partnership with Mulvaney, a man who identifies as a woman. 
While the company posted strong returns around the world, the company explained that its growth “was constrained  by the performance of our US business,&#8221; according to a <a href="https://cdn.builder.io/o/assets%2F2e5c7fb020194c1a8ee80f743d0b923e%2Ff89b71d38e724014b04e717e021b0e26?alt=media&amp;token=59b398c4-487c-4a10-8a9f-bb79334d4960&amp;apiKey=2e5c7fb020194c1a8ee80f743d0b923e" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> put out by the company on Thursday.
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&#8220;Revenue declined by 17.3% with sales-to-retailers (STRs) down by 12.1%, primarily due to the volume decline of Bud Light. Sales-to-wholesalers (STWs) declined by 16.1% as shipments lagged stronger depletions in December,&#8221; the report said of the company&#8217;s fourth quarter.
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Anheuser-Busch said that its American beer sales were picking up a little bit, but at a very slow pace. 
“The beer industry remained resilient in FY23, with volumes improving sequentially throughout the year and with beer gaining share of total alcohol by value in the off-premise, according to Circana. Our beer market share has seen continued gradual improvement since May through the end of December. While our mainstream beer revenues declined this year, our above core beer megabrands continued to grow,” the report said. 
Sales of Bud Light plummeted after Mulvaney partnered with the company last year and conservatives called for the company to apologize. The boycott rippled throughout the company as it laid off hundreds of employees and parted ways with top marketers. 
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While Bud Light dealt with the public outcry and a nationwide boycott over its partnership with Mulvaney, it was also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/one-year-later-how-bud-lights-dylan-mulvaney-fiasco-pushed-beer-industry-to-rewrite-its-ad-standards" target="_blank" rel="noopener">engaged</a> in a high-profile legal battle over whether the promotion of beer by Mulvaney — who often presents on social media as an entertainer for kids — was compliant with industry standards that ban marketing alcohol to minors.
U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), both members of the Senate Commerce Committee, wrote a letter on May 17, 2023, that sparked a <a href="https://www.beerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/CCRB-Dylan-Mulvaney-Complaint-Packet-with-Decisions-7.18.23.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">formal review</a> by the beer industry’s self-regulating body, the Beer Institute, into whether Bud Light was targeting minors through its ads with Mulvaney.
Soon the beer industry&#8217;s <a href="https://www.beerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Beer-Institute-Advertising-and-Marketing-Code-Updated-Sept2023.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Advertising and Marketing Code</a> was revised with new policies for social media influencers. The guidelines state that social media posts can only be placed where at least 73.8% of the audience is of legal drinking age — the same standard as for traditional advertisements — and that “age-gating measures” must be used if available.
Brent Scher contributed to this report.

30th Annual GLAAD Media Awards New York – Inside

Bud Light’s Parent Company Lost Over $1 Billion In Revenue After Dylan Mulvaney Partnership: Report

boycotts

Transgenders

It was one year ago, on February 11, 2023, that Dylan Mulvaney, the transgender-identifying social media influencer, posted a video of himself drinking Bud Light in a bathtub — paid promotion that permanently altered not only Bud Light’s reputation, but now also the ad standards for the entire beer industry.
While Bud Light dealt with the public outcry and a nationwide boycott over its partnership with Mulvaney, it fought a less high-profile legal battle over whether the promotion of beer by Mulvaney — who often presents on social media as an entertainer for kids — was compliant with industry standards that ban marketing alcohol to minors.
U.S. Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), both members of the Commerce Committee, wrote a letter on May 17, 2023, that sparked a <a href="https://www.beerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/CCRB-Dylan-Mulvaney-Complaint-Packet-with-Decisions-7.18.23.pdf">formal review</a> by the beer industry’s self-regulating body, the Beer Institute, into whether Bud Light was targeting minors through its ads with Mulvaney.
Mulvaney posted just twice as a Bud Light partner, first on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CoiTxPFjU2N/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">February 11</a> in the bathtub timed with last year&#8217;s Super Bowl and then again on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CqgTftujqZc/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">April 1</a> for March Madness, with the latter post generating the outrage that cost the company billions of dollars. The company first reviewed the possibility of hiring Mulvaney in December 2022 and went on to pay him a reported <a href="https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/dylan-mulvaney-bud-light-payout" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$185,000</a> for the two posts.
The senators in their letter state that Mulvaney was brought on as part of Bud Light’s strategy to “<a href="https://nypost.com/2023/04/10/bud-lights-marketing-vp-was-inspired-to-update-fratty-out-of-touch-branding/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">attract young drinkers</a>” and pointed to his several posts aimed at children, including <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@dylanmulvaney/video/7212043896430415147?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one</a> in March, right in the middle of his two posts for Bud Light, in which he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trans-activist-dylan-mulvaney-dressed-as-6-year-old-book-character-eloise-sparks-big-reaction-on-twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posed as a 6-year-old children’s book character</a> named Eloise.
<blockquote class="tiktok-embed" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@dylanmulvaney/video/7212043896430415147" data-video-id="7212043896430415147" data-embed-from="oembed" style="max-width:605px; min-width:325px;">
<section> <a target="_blank" title="@dylanmulvaney" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@dylanmulvaney?refer=embed">@dylanmulvaney</a> 
Childhood dream unlocked ✔️ <a title="eloise" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/eloise?refer=embed">#eloise</a> <a title="plazahotel" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/plazahotel?refer=embed">#plazahotel</a> 
 <a target="_blank" title="♬ Eloise - Emily Christine Peterson" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/Eloise-7024186847911840517?refer=embed">♬ Eloise &#8211; Emily Christine Peterson</a> </section>
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The charge was reviewed by the Beer Institute’s “Code Compliance Review Board,” which in a July decision found that Bud Light did not violate its Advertising and Marketing Code. But just two months later that code was quietly revised — the <a href="https://www.beerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Beer-Institute-Advertising-and-Marketing-Code-Updated-Sept2023.pdf">Advertising and Marketing Code</a> that beer companies are required to adhere to now includes new language on social media influencers that would appear to forbid any brewer from working with Mulvaney.
The guidelines also appear to mandate that Bud Light go back and reassess the Mulvaney posts based on the new standards.
The updated standards state that a brewer must conduct “after-the-fact audits” at least twice a year of all its influencer placements. “If a Brewer learns that an advertising placement did not meet the Code’s audience demographic standard,” the Beer Institute states, recommended steps include having the post removed.
The standards at the time of the initial review made no mention of influencers, and Bud Light’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch, used that to say it wasn’t responsible for reviewing influencer posts, and didn’t with Mulvaney. The company told the review board that influencer campaigns are “unique” because the content is “not controlled by the brewer,” but rather the “influencers develop their own content and post it on their own page.”
That’s no longer an acceptable process. The new standards, which were announced in a September 28, 2023, <a href="https://www.beerinstitute.org/press-releases/member-alert-beer-institute-updates-advertising-and-marketing-code/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a> but received no media attention, say that social media influencer content needs to be held to the same standard as other ads.
The standards were updated just weeks after Cruz urged action in an <a href="https://www.commerce.senate.gov/services/files/7A0CBD95-24A3-4A6C-B299-490F36D90564" target="_blank" rel="noopener">August 15 letter</a> in which he bemoaned the lack of standards for social media posts. “It is concerning, for example, that brewers do not prescreen branded content by social media influencers,” Cruz wrote, noting Bud Light’s initial defense that influencer posts were “unique.”
The guidelines state that social media posts can only be placed where at least 73.8% of the audience is of legal drinking age — the same standard as for traditional advertisements — and that “age-gating measures” must be used if available.
Not only do independent analyses of Mulvaney’s audience call into question whether his audience is sufficiently composed of drinking-aged adults, but there is no indication that Mulvaney is using Instagram’s <a href="https://help.instagram.com/316932422966736" target="_blank" rel="noopener">age restriction tools</a>. The Daily Wire signed up for an Instagram account stating that it was underage and was able to access his Bud Light promotion.
While Anheuser-Busch stated in its initial defense of the Mulvaney posts that it conducted an “audience composition study” and found that roughly 80% of his audience was 21 or older, its review appears to be insufficient. The company conducted a single analysis when it first engaged with Mulvaney in December 2022 and used it to justify both posts in the coming months.
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Beer companies are required, however, to continually analyze the audience of their influencers. If Bud Light had, it would have likely learned that Mulvaney wasn&#8217;t an acceptable option.
An <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/02/modash-report-dylanmulvaney-Feb-11-2024.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">independent analysis conducted</a> on the publication date of this story by The Daily Wire using Modash, a leading influencer analysis products, found that over half of Mulvaney’s followers are 24 or under — 7.95% are aged 13-17, and 45.32% are aged 18-24. It is impossible to know the exact composition of his followers based on Instagram’s data because the cutoff date for alcohol, 21 years old, is right in the middle of the 18-24 segment. But if just half of the 18-24 portion were under 21, then Mulvaney would fall below the acceptable threshold.
Cruz, in his August letter that appears to have prompted the updated standards, cast serious doubt about assumptions made by Bud Light in its audience review. One complaint stated by the Texas senator is that Bud Light guessed the proportion of 18-24-year-olds that were actually over 21 based on an assumption that users are evenly distributed by age — it only counts 42% of that group as underage — even though there is no evidence to suggest that’s the case.
It’s likely the case that there are far more young people on Instagram than its data suggests. The social media platform relies on the honesty of users to determine their age, with little to no age verification tools. <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/instagram-tests-child-age-verification-but-falls-short-of-full-id-checks-11655953547" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Surveys show</a> that minors regularly lie about their age to obtain social media profiles. It is therefore likely that the studies overstate the number of users who are adults.
It is unclear whether Anheuser-Busch has conducted a single analysis of Mulvaney’s audience since its initial review before the posts, even though the new standards require it to.
Anheuser-Busch did not respond to a request for comment on the Mulvaney posts, and whether it has reviewed them since the updated standards were released. Mulvaney also did not respond to inquiries.
The Beer Institute declined to comment on whether any action has been taken regarding Mulvaney’s posts since the standards were updated, and whether any action is required.
“The Code Compliance Review Board, an independent review board convened by the Beer Institute, has already carefully assessed the posts and determined that there was no violation of the Beer Institute Advertising and Marketing Code,” a Beer Institute spokesman told The Daily Wire, a statement that disregards the fact that the Advertising and Marketing Code was amended after the review.
Cruz warned the Beer Institute in his August letter that a failure to take his concerns seriously would force him to legislate away the industry’s self-governing situation.
“There are currently no federal laws against advertising alcohol to minors, in part because of the beer industry’s professed commitment to self-regulation,” Cruz wrote. “As Ranking Member on the Commerce Committee, it is my duty to ensure that the Beer Institute’s private regulatory regime is working; if it is not, then our Committee may be forced to consider legislating to protect consumers, including impressionable children.”
Cruz made clear in his latest letter on the topic that the Beer Institute’s absolvement of Bud Light doesn’t mean his inquiries will end. The industry trade group’s <a href="https://www.beerinstitute.org/about-us/leadership/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">board of directors</a>, after all, is currently chaired by Brendan Whitworth, the CEO of Anheuser-Busch.
Bud Light has continued to grapple with its reputation in the year since affiliating its brand with the transgender influencer. It is reportedly using this year’s Super Bowl as an opportunity for a “<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/now/video/bud-light-plotting-brand-revival-in-new-super-bowl-ad-203908677724" target="_blank" rel="noopener">brand revival</a>.”
Both of Mulvaney’s posts tagged with “#budlightpartner” remain unaltered on Instagram.
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