Business Bud Light Sponsoring ‘All Ages’ Drag Queen Pride Party - They can't stop themselves from doubling down

Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images

LAUREL DUGGAN
SOCIAL ISSUES AND CULTURE REPORTER
June 07, 2023 9:31 AM ET

Bud Light is sponsoring an all-ages Pride event and after-party featuring drag queens in Flagstaff, Arizona, according to advertisements.

The June 17 after-party features several famous drag queens and will take place after Flagstaff’s 27th annual Pride in the Pines, and both events list Bud Light as a sponsor. The after-party is open to “all ages,” and participants under 16 years old require a guardian to attend, according to an online flyer.


ORLANDO, FLORIDA – JUNE 03: Salem Sanderson wears a cape that reads “Drag is Not a Crime” as she performs during the Miss Gay Days Pageant at the DoubleTree by Hilton Orlando at SeaWorld on June 03, 2023 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The after-party will feature nine drag queens including host Mya McKenzie, former Miss Phoenix Pride and Miss Gay Arizona America. One performer, Kim Etiquette, performs as a”stupid housewife” character, according to his Instagram.

“Celebrating 27 years in Northern Arizona, Flagstaff Pride’s goal is that Together, we support, unite, and strengthen our LGBTQIA2S+ community,” Pride in the Pines’ webpage reads. “The mission is elevated each year by Flagstaff Pride main event – a family-friendly pride festival in the cool highlands of Flagstaff. By production of the annual Pride in the Pines, Flagstaff Pride catalyses positive difference for LGBTQIA2S, while creating a sense of general community.”

Ticket prices for the daytime Pride event range from $20-$100 and are free to participants 10 and younger. After-party tickets start at $14.

The development comes amid months of plummeting sales after Bud Light parent company Anheuser-Busch sent a commemorative can of beer to transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in an apparent marketing ploy, which sparked boycotts.

Several states have moved to restrict the attendance of minors at drag shows over the past year after numerous sexually explicit events drew national headlines for allowing children to attend.

Anheuser-Busch and the event organizers did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

Source (Archive)

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[Haramburger]

Just leave kids out of it; you'd think an ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE company of all things would understand this simple lesson, but nah. You don't market booze to kids, so why are you pushing drag queens onto them? Might as well bring back animated cartoon beer ads, huh?

 

[Reticulan Joe]

I wonder if A-B hasn't run the numbers, decided that they're never going to get the boycotting customers back, and decided to try to double down on the LGBTQ+ community.

Well, that or they have some other genius MBA decision-maker who doesn't care about the numbers at all and is acting out of pure culture war spite.

I also suspect they have not thought enough about the optics of sponsoring an all-ages event when their product is only purchasable by people 21 years or older.

 

[Balr0g]

Replacing your old customer base with customers from a 3% part of the total population seems like a very smart move.
Where did the CEO go to business school, was that Lalaland?

 

[The Backwards Man]

I guess $10 billion wasn't enough.

 

[General Emílio Médici]

Are they gonna pretend this one also just "slipped by" all their marketing and PR people?

It's no accident. It's on purpose.

 

[Otterly]

Alcohol sellers shouldn’t be sponsoring events where children are present full stop. I’m fairly sure there’s laws in the uk about what you can advertise to children re: age controlled substances.
Soft play, sponsored by Joe’s speedballs, for a higher bounce

 

[s0mbra]

It's a BEER company. Why are they sponsoring an all ages ANYTHING???

 

[TheDarknessGrows]

Looks like I have to buy more of InBev's other brands to stick it to Bud Light.

 

[Omen_Sulk]

It's a BEER company. Why are they sponsoring an all ages ANYTHING???

I'm guessing in the fine print of the ESG rating documentation, it says you have to push pedophilia.

 

[Some Dumb Faggot]

Fucking dumb retards. . .

 

[Elmo]

Replacing your old customer base with customers from a 3% part of the total population seems like a very smart move.
Where did the CEO go to business school, was that Lalaland?

I hear people say this often but it's not so much as replacing the 3% of the population but rather appealing to their allies which consists of anything left-of-center lest they be labelled a bigot or something worse.

 

[Absurdist Laughter]

It felt intentional before, now it feels maliciously intentional. Either they are attempting to buy back their stocks at a discount and recover their losses from the boycott when some Michael Burry type jumps in or InBev's internal executives are waging war with each other.

 

[Flaming Insignias]

Replacing your old customer base with customers from a 3% part of the total population seems like a very smart move.
Where did the CEO go to business school, was that Lalaland?

Oh, it's okay, blue cities have big GDP's from the major companies headquartered in them. This clearly means that A-B can rely on those urbanites that don't even drink their horse piss to replace their overwhelmingly white and blue-collar customer base, because those dumb hillbillies don't produce anything of value compared to their bughives.

 

[Anonitolia]

>Hey, boss, we just lost 99% of our customer-base by trying to appeal to their exact opposites and are losing a fuckload of our revenue due to it. Our company is plummeting and our primary source of cash hates us. What should we do?
>I know! Double down!
can't wait for the news stories about layoffs that're gonna be flooding the papers within a week lmao

 

[HarblMcDavid]

I'm not so sure this is them doubling down, bear with me, as this reminds me of something...

http://www.zombietime.com/folsom_sf_2007_part_1/index.php

http://www.zombietime.com/up_your_alley_2008/part_1_full/index.php

Note the Miller branding everywhere in the first one, and references to it dropping in the second? Yet, they were still providing half the beer or more even if they toned down the branding because being a near exclusive provider is quite profitable at festivals in general.

This recent incident is part of a festival, so there's a good chance that this was something scheduled pre-Dyldo-drama since being exclusive or one of a couple alcohol provider for events like this can be quite profitable, and if the above is any indication, something that is far from exclusive to Bud.

Not that it makes things better, really.

Now, it was definitely a bad idea to not double check your shit and make sure there were no nuggets like this hanging out for people looking for blood to find, after getting fucked by Dyldo, but that's not quite the same as doubling down if that makes sense.

 

[Blobby's Murder Knife]

This clearly is not about money anymore. Satan at the wheel.

 

[Bland Crumbs]

Just leave kids out of it; you'd think an ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE company of all things would understand this simple lesson, but nah. You don't market booze to kids, so why are you pushing drag queens onto them? Might as well bring back animated cartoon beer ads, huh?

Honestly I am done with them entirely. As far as I am concerned they can be packed into the nearest closet forever. In a little over a decade these degenerates have managed to make me swing from supporting to go fuck yourself faggot.

Nice job.

 

[Harvey Danger]

Now, it was definitely a bad idea to not double check your shit and make sure there were no nuggets like this hanging out for people looking for blood to find, after getting fucked by Dyldo, but that's not quite the same as doubling down if that makes sense.

We read the statement A-B put out. They weren't seeing the light, overhauling their practices, and changing direction after the Mulvaney fiasco. They were tap-dancing to stop the bloodshed, and hoping people would forget about it so they could get back to business as usual.

Nobody was double checking anything. Their damage control PR people projected they wouldn't need to worry by this point.

 

[Elmo]

I'm not so sure this is them doubling down, bear with me, as this reminds me of something...

http://www.zombietime.com/folsom_sf_2007_part_1/index.php

http://www.zombietime.com/up_your_alley_2008/part_1_full/index.php

Note the Miller branding everywhere in the first one, and references to it dropping in the second? Yet, they were still providing half the beer or more even if they toned down the branding because being a near exclusive provider is quite profitable at festivals in general.

This recent incident is part of a festival, so there's a good chance that this was something scheduled pre-Dyldo-drama since being exclusive or one of a couple alcohol provider for events like this can be quite profitable, and if the above is any indication, something that is far from exclusive to Bud.

Not that it makes things better, really.

Now, it was definitely a bad idea to not double check your shit and make sure there were no nuggets like this hanging out for people looking for blood to find, after getting fucked by Dyldo, but that's not quite the same as doubling down if that makes sense.

Either way, with the timing of it all it's not a good look and it's just another example talking point that people will point to as evidence of why "go woke go broke" or what have you is happening and just more fodder for DW and Matt Walsh. I want to know how their great Memorial Day Rebate program went where they were basically giving away free beer.