Anheuser-Busch CEO Says We Need To Start Calling Domestics “American Beers,”& I 100% Support That

'Merica... hell yeah. It's amazing what a multi-billion dollar backlash can do for your company, right? I mean, talk about a complete 180 for Anheuser-Busch who not too long ago was REELING after a Bud Light partnerships with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney led to one of the biggest and most effective consumer boycotts in American corporate history. Every other day someone is calling for a boycott of a new brand, for any number of reasons... unethical treatment of employees, child labor, various political beliefs, too many white people working there... the list goes on. You all still have your iPhone's and are begging for TikTok to come back. Chick-fil-A, Walmart, Coca-Cola, Starbucks, Target... we've all seen it, but I'm not sure I can recall one with the kind of scale that we saw from Bud Light. It all started when they sent transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney a commemorative can to celebrate a year of transitioning into a "girl"... the most obnoxious and stereotypical caricature of a "girl," apparently. The funny part is that it happened on April 1st 2023, so a number of loyal Bud Light drinkers thought it was an April Fools joke. It was not. And it wasn't even a partnership per se, it was more of gift... and that gift was sent without the approval of the top dogs at Bud Light. Well, regardless of who approved what or what scale of "partnership" it truly was, the move sparked a massive backlash from the Bud Light crowd, who vowing to boycott the brand. Following an “explosive” act of protest by Kid Rock, we saw a ton of Bud Light drinkers turn their backs on the beer, and when Bud Light began to see a drastic decline in sales, they sent out an “apology,” of sorts, which ultimately resulted in a ton of LGBTQ supporters denouncing the beer for turning its back on them and not supporting Dylan. Anheuser-Busch got the heat from both worlds, and it ultimately led to a drastic decline in sales. And then it got worse. And for me personally... I found this part to be the most egregious... Alissa Heinerscheid, the marketing VP who was behind the Mulvaney commemorative can (like I said, it wasn’t a company-wide decision), dug her heels in even further when she came out and said the brand was in decline and that the brand’s identity was “fratty” and “out of touch,” a massive dig at Bud’s core fanbase. Imagine spending 40 years building up this popular light beer label, under the Budweiser "King of Beers" umbrella, and some woke marketing executive who thinks the brand isn't inclusive enough decided to torpedo everything and then DOUBLE DOWN on attacking the fanbase. She was later fired, and deservedly so. Following the backlash, Modelo has since surpassed Bud Light as America’s favorite beer, and according to a new report from former executive at the company, they are still struggling to recoup some of those lost customers: "They haven't recovered at all. I think that's one of the most interesting parts about this story is that they lost 30% of their customers. Millions of customers, billions of dollars of shareholder value over the last couple of years. They are advertising Bud Light. And candidly, the commercials are actually pretty good. They have Shane Gillis who's about the opposite of Dylan Mulvaney. You couldn't have maybe someone more opposite. They have Post Malone, but the problem is they've lost a lot of their customers."  So what's the fix? Two words... American. Beer. Earlier this week, AB CEO Brendan Whitworth shared a letter urging distributors to drop the "domestic" term and replace it with "American." And I can't say that I disagree. In fact, I fully support it. When you go to a baseball game and see "Imports" and "Domestics" on the concession menu, and it doesn't even tell you what brand of domestic they serve... then you get up there and have to ask or look at the taps. It's just not even that functional let alone a poor descriptor. Does the average person know where Heineken is made? I don't know if they do. (It's Dutch). Whitworth, in part, said: "I do not like the word 'domestic.' Every time I see it, I have a negative reaction. I’ve thought about it a lot. I’ve talked about it with people, now and again. Until now, I’ve never actually done anything about it. I’m asking the Anheuser-Busch team and our wholesalers to make the change. Change the bar menus, change the venue boards, change the signs, change their reports, change their jargon, and insist upon American. I hope other American brewers and wholesalers will join us." He went on to say that these beers are 100% American... from the farmer's hands, all the way to the drinker's lips: "They are brewed by American workers who receive American wages. They rely on American farmers and on American raw material suppliers. They support American causes like the military and first responders. They pay American taxes. And they exist because of decades of capital investments made in hundreds of local communities, right here across this great country."  Can I get an AMEN? It's Friday... can I have a beer for breakfast? Personally, I love the idea. Whitworth served 8 years in the Marines and the CIA, and has been with the company since 2013. Kid Rock revealed last year that he met with Whitworth and the two drank a ton of beer and discussed ways they could fix the brand. As it turns out, Bud Light leadership probably has more in common with its fanbase than one would think. “We’ve become friends, he’s a great guy… after five minutes of talking to him, we had a great conversation… at some point we got to talking about the video and he said he was actually down in Texas hunting when he got it. I’m like ‘Dude, you seem like somebody I’d be friends with. That I’d hang out with.’ And he’s like ‘You would, that’s what I’m saying.'” Dana White confirmed that as well when the UFC partnered with them: "If you consider yourself a patriot, you should be drinking gallons of Bud Light! You should have Bud Light drums stacked in your garage and drinking it right out of the keg. They are way more aligned with you than most of these other beer companies are. That I guarantee you. Take it from somebody w ho is in the know and who does business with the beer companies, you are way more aligned with Bud Light than any other beer company. We had multiple bidders on the table, they were one of them." Was the Dylan Mulvaney fiasco an absolute slap in the face to their core identity and fanbase? Absolutely. It was a colossal f*ck up that they paid dearly for. But since then, Bud Light has completely turned the corner and get back to the roots of the brand... cold beer, good times, football, humor, country music. They've partnered with Shane Gillis, Post Malone, Peyton Manning and are focused on serving the needs of their customers, not playing the DEI game. I'm not saying you have to forgive them, or start drinking Bud Light... I don't care what you drink, but I do appreciate their efforts to right the ship. And that, I'll drink an "American," not a domestic, beer to. Check out their latest Super Bowl commercial if you don't think they're back. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7qbswwBCDo