Conservatives reject Trump’s plea to give Bud Light a second chance

Donald Trump has a famously loyal following. So loyal, he once said, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters.” But that loyalty does have its limits, and that limit is Bud Light.

Not even the most popular conservative figure in a generation can convince his followers to drink America’s former bestselling beer.

Trump wrote in a Truth Social post, “The Bud Light ad was a mistake of epic proportions,” referring to a social media spot by transgender TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney that soured many beer drinkers on the brand.

“But Anheuser-Busch is not a woke company,” Trump continued. “Anheuser-Busch is a great American brand that perhaps deserves a second chance? What do you think?”

He listed a slew of reasons to support Bud Light and Anheuser-Busch, including the company employing 65,000 Americans and paying millions to farmers.

“These are just literally talking points that they also gave to Dana White, they also gave to Peyton Manning, so they’re obviously giving a lot of money to Donald Trump as well. It looks inauthentic,” said Anson Frericks, a former Anheuser-Busch executive and co-founder of Strive Asset Management with former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

Trump’s followers overwhelmingly are not buying it. Reply after reply shows this is one Trump plea they do not stand behind.

“I love you Donald Trump, but on this point I must stand firm. No to AB, they are dead to me and will never rise again,” one Truth Social user wrote.

Of course, Trump’s post didn’t come out of nowhere. A lobbyist for the company is hosting a fundraiser for Trump in March.

“They’ve done a nice job in terms of getting Donald Trump to ask people to give them a second chance,” Frericks said. “I just think the company can do a better job itself asking for a second chance. And that’s what it just hasn’t done.”

That seems to be the consensus from Trump’s followers on his social media platform. 

It’s been nearly a year since the Mulvaney post and a controversial comment by Anheuser-Busch Marketing Vice President Alissa Heinerscheid.

“Bud Light had been kind of a brand of fratty, kind of out-of-touch humor, and it was really important that we had another approach,” Heinersheid said.

Without apology for that statement, Anheuser-Busch said it’s getting back to humor its customers are accustomed to in a 60-second Super Bowl spot. 

“Bud Light wasn’t built overnight. Budweiser wasn’t built overnight,” Frericks said. “But unfortunately, we see in today’s age, you can lose that trust, you lose those consumers almost overnight. They’re not going to come back just because you put up one funny commercial or you have one Peyton Manning Super Bowl ad.”

Frericks said they’d be better off spending the several million dollars to say sorry.