Prominent Transgender Influencer Dylan Mulvaney Responds to Critics of Partnership With Bud Light
Mulvaney and Bud Light have faced a barrage of criticism from those on the political right since Bud Light’s advertising campaign kicked off.
A transgender woman who recently became a brand partner with Bud Light, Dylan Mulvaney, is pushing back against critics of the advertising campaign.
Ms. Mulvaney on Tuesday was asked by a passer-by in Hollywood how she was doing following the growing backlash against her Bud Light partnership. She told paparazzi stalking her outside a Los Angeles film studio that she was “thriving” and that “life is good,” according to a report in the Daily Mail.
Ms. Mulvaney and Bud Light have faced a barrage of criticism from those on the political right since Bud Light’s advertising campaign kicked off. Days after the unveiling of new beer cans with her face on them, singer Kid Rock posted a video on Twitter of him shooting cases of Bud Light with a semi-automatic rifle.
A GOP presidential candidate, Nikki Haley, criticized the influencer campaign on Wednesday. “You have a man dressed up as a woman making fun of girls…. You have companies glorifying this…. Who’s going to fight for our daughters?” Mrs. Haley said at an event in Iowa.
Ms. Mulvaney has made brand partnership deals with other major corporations, including Nike, Maybelline, and Kate Spade.
On Monday, a former Fox News host, Megyn Kelly, vented her frustrations with the brand partnerships, pointing to an ad that features Ms. Mulvaney wearing a sports bra.
“Dylan’s been taking some sort of a hormone that has turned Dylan into some … I don’t know what’s happening there, but those are not breasts,” Ms. Kelly said. She added that no woman she knows would “be inspired to buy one based on non-breasted Dylan Mulvaney prancing around in a Nike sports bra.” Ms. Kelly also speculated that the influencer might have an eating disorder.
During an interview with Rosie O’Donnell, Ms. Mulvaney said she is an “easy target” because she has identified as a woman only since 2022. “I think going after a trans woman that’s been doing this for like 20 years is a lot more difficult. I think maybe they think that there’s some sort of chance with me. … But what is their goal?”
Since the beginning of April, Bud Light’s owner, Anheuser-Busch, has seen its stock price decline by more than 5 percent.
Advertisers have increasingly used transgender women in their promotional material, especially during Women’s History Month earlier this year. One ad from Hershey’s chocolate promoted a new “Her/She” candy in a video featuring a transgender woman.
Arguably the most famous transgender person in America, Caitlyn Jenner, in a tweet called the ad campaign a “fake manufactured woke marketing move.”
It was later disclosed that both Ms. Jenner and Kid Rock had partnered to promote a hard seltzer. “I didn’t tie to this brand because I’m trans,” Ms. Jenner wrote. “My tie to it worked because my fans and their fans love my American patriotism and support of women in sports.”
The vice president of marketing for Bud Light, Alissa Heinerscheid, defended her company’s partnership with Ms. Mulvaney, saying it was her job to reinvent the beer’s brand.
“I had a really clear job to do when I took over Bud Light, and it was ‘This brand is in decline, it’s been in a decline for a really long time, and if we do not attract young drinkers to come and drink this brand there will be no future for Bud Light,’” Ms. Heinerscheid said during an appearance on the Make Yourself at Home podcast. She added that she wanted to move the brand away from what she said was its “fratty and out of touch” image.