Occasionally, there occurs a perfect storm of bad marketing and stupid people. Back when we were wee ones, John Lennon made the comment that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. This resulted in outrage among the dumber Christian extremists, who made hay and bonfires of it, burning albums that they'd already purchased. In the early 2000s - when France wasn't buying what Bush, Cheney, and Powell were selling (re: the rationale for invading Iraq), people were pouring out bottles of French wine that they'd already purchased.

Now, of course, is the infamous Bud Lite debacle, where the AB/InBev marketers decided (in an effort to a appeal to a younger more diverse crowd) to contract with a trans "social influencer" (Dylan Mulvaney) to promote their product. You'd think every can was dosed with The Gay. In reality, these bigots are outraged that their favorite 'Murican swill appeared to be supporting a small segment of society that they considered The Other. Right-wing politicians have worked so hard to demonize trans people, that to show a little support appears to be a betrayal to the Deplorables.

This has resulted in videos of stupid extremists posting videos of themselves destroying 12-packs of Bud Lite - which (yes this is becoming a trend) they had already paid for (or perhaps bought just to make the video). Travis Twitt removed AB products from his concert rider. Sales of Budweiser products dropped. You know the drill on how this turns out.

As a result, two marketing executives at AB have been put on leave, and AB restructured their upper management, and released a statement saying "We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people - we are in the business of bringing people together over a beer". As a business, though, they should know they can't alienate their core base in an effort to appeal to a more diverse crowd. The reality is that a sizeable chunk of people who drink Bud Lite aren't really into nuance. The younger generation is more into craft beer, cocktails, and hard seltzer drinks, and the "good ol' boy" image of Macro Brewery beers just doesn't appeal to them. Getting a trans person to promote their product isn't going to change that.

Into this fecal zeitgeist jumps the campaign arm for AR guv Sarah Huckabee. They are selling "Real Women of Politics" beer coozies to keep the beer cold and "The Gay" hidden (just like Gawd intended!!). It's truly as awful as you'd think:

Holy shit. This is real.pic.twitter.com/O152RkPtcB

— Jo (@JoJoFromJerz) April 24, 2023

They even rip off the "Real American Heroes" song and promotional campaign that AB did a few years back. I imagine AB (and/or the jingle writer) could sue them for copyright infringement, but I doubt that anyone will bother. Why draw attention to something so truly awful?

In the end, Bud Lite will slowly recover and rejoin the panaply of successful brands selling watered-down swill to those who'd rather guzzle cold piss than sip on a well-crafted beer full of flavor, body, and pleasant aromas. What else are they going to drink? - Coors Lite?