Brewing up Trouble:
An In-depth analysis of the Bud Light/ Dylan Mulvaney controversy
July 06, 2023
April 1st, 2023 – A day that will live in modern day marketing infamy.
Dylan Mulvaney posted a video showing a customized Bud Light can with Mulvaney’s image on it from the company to “honor Mulvaney’s first full year of being an openly transgender woman.”
The post immediately caused a wide array of reactions among the Bud Light customer base and other conservative communities.
Convée collected social media data from March 20th, 2023 – April 24, 2023. An in-depth sentiment analysis regarding Bud Light before and after Dylan Mulvaney’s post was then conducted by Convée analysts without bias.
Overall Online Conversations about Bud Light & Dylan Mulvaney
Overall online conversations when Bud Light, Budweiser, Anheuser-Busch, and Dylan Mulvaney are discussed along with the total number of posts associated with each brand during the time frame above.
Most of the conversation above is centered around the Bud Light customer base calling for boycotts, switching to alternatives like Coors and Miller, and that “Bud Light has gone woke.” However, the largest spike was seen on April 15th after Bud Light tweeted “TGIF?” which was their first post since the controversy. Many of the replies to this tweet further emphasized the boycott and highlighted the significant drop in stock value which, based off the data provided, could be attributed to the boycott conversations from April 3rd. This spike also came shortly after the Anheuser-Busch CEO stated: “We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people.”
Conversation Sources 3/20 - 4/23
| Selected | Data Source | # Posts | Percent |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Twitter |
142,622 |
80.64% |
|
|
Boards |
14,563 |
8.23% |
|
|
Videos |
11,864 |
6.71% |
|
|
Blogs |
7,473 |
4.23% |
|
|
VK |
303 |
.17% |
|
|
Reviews |
33 |
.02% |
Sources used and how many mentions are from each source
The Calm Before the Storm
*News sources were excluded to focus on conversations among the customer base
Before Mulvaney’s post, conversations surrounding Bud Light were mostly positive as people were talking about their opinion of the beer itself. Conversations varied from loyal supporters of the beer to some simply saying that they do not like it.
Positive/Negative Sentiment Conversation Line 3/20-4/1 (before promotion)
No Data Found
Sentiment 3/20 - 3/31
No Data Found
Conversation trend of Bud Light & other Anheuser-Busch Products 3/20-4/1
No Data Found
No Data Found
- A lot of the conversation directly before the post was about a sweepstakes Budweiser was running for a chance to win an LED sign using hashtags like “#BudGlowUp”
- Other products like Michelob Ultra and Stella Artois also had conversations about promotions specific to those brands like the “Michelob ULTRA Pure Gold Tentrr Pass” sweepstakes. Stella had conversations in the United Kingdom about matching donation funds to help with rising energy bills for their local pubs.
Common terms associated with Bud Light and Budweiser before the post included:
Conversation trend of Bud Light & other Anheuser-Busch Products 3/20-4/1
No Data Found
(Below right): Split between positive and negative conversations, which were 64% positive. Many of the positive conversations mention the sweepstakes and customers expressing interest in the Budweiser product lines like beer and seltzers. The negative sentiment is focused on trivial complaints about the product regarding the taste, quality, etc.
(Below left): Rate of positive vs negative conversation prior to the Mulvaney post with a spike on March 28th about the sweepstakes outlined in the previous section.
Sentiment Split 3/20-4/1
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Positive/Negative Sentiment Conversation Line 3/20-4/1
No Data Found
aND THEN... THE STORM
Conversation Volume after Mulvaney’s Post
| Bud Light | Budweiser | Dylan Mulvaney | Anheuser-Busch |
|---|---|---|---|
|
56.50% |
33.29% |
5.33% |
4.88% |
The volume drastically increased after Mulvaney’s announcement. The biggest spike in conversation from 3/20 – 4/1 (13 days) was just over 200 mentions, whereas the biggest spike from 4/1 – 4/23 (21 days) was over 20,000 mentions. The common theme of conversation during this time was how the customer base disagreed with the partnership people believed Bud Light had created with Mulvaney and how they were out of touch with their customers. As previously mentioned, the spikes on April 3rd and April 15th surrounded the initial reaction to the post and then the reaction to Bud Light’s first post since Mulvaney’s original post which made people feel Bud Light was trying to avoid addressing the Mulvaney incident.
The volume drastically increased after Mulvaney’s announcement. The biggest spike in conversation from 3/20 – 4/1 (13 days) was just over 200 mentions, whereas the biggest spike from 4/1 – 4/23 (21 days) was over 20,000 mentions. The common theme of conversation during this time was how the customer base disagreed with the partnership people believed Bud Light had created with Mulvaney and how they were out of touch with their customers. As previously mentioned, the spikes on April 3rd and April 15th surrounded the initial reaction to the post and then the reaction to Bud Light’s first post since Mulvaney’s original post which made people feel Bud Light was trying to avoid addressing the Mulvaney incident.
Positive/Negative Sentiment Conversations 4/2-4/23
No Data Found
Sentiment 4/2-4/23
No Data Found
The outrage among specifically the Bud Light customers in response to the actions of Bud Light led to an increase in overall conversation. Most people were talking about boycotting the brand and even other products distributed by Anheuser-Busch. Others determined that Bud Light caved to the “woke mob” and that they will subsequently lose value.
The other Anheuser-Busch products are being mentioned in many lists of beer that people are going to boycott because of the post. Anheuser-Busch InBev is also mentioned by those who are voicing their opinion with the previously mentioned lists, which suggests that the entire parent company and its product line will take a hit for this controversial decision, not just Bud Light.
The negative narrative surrounding this promotion far outweighed the positive as the most frequent terms mentioned with Bud Light and Budweiser consist of:
Investigating this surge indicates the perceived partnership with Mulvaney is the sole reason for the increase. With a much higher volume of data, we can see the sentiment spikes but more significantly, the flip in positive vs negative sentiment. Unlike before, there is now a far more negative narrative surrounding Bud Light following the post. You can see how much the narrative changed in the charts above. The negative sentiment jumped 32% in only a few weeks with spikes on April 3rd when news broke that Mulvaney was partnered with Bud Light, and April 15th when the talks of boycotting the product started ramping up even more.
Conversation by Gender on Mulvaney & Anheuser-Busch
No Data Found
When comparing the before and after charts there are many changes between the data displayed, however there is one constant throughout the project and that is the gender percentages. When the gender of the author is known, nearly 76% of the time it is a male talking about Bud Light and a female the remaining 24%. Knowing the mentions by people claiming that Bud Light is “out of touch” with their target audience suggests that the narrative is controlled by older, working-class males. Something to note is that throughout the entire controversy, Bud Light is by far the main target of angry conversations- not Mulvaney.
Share of Voice by Gender
No Data Found
Thematic Clustering + Bud Light
Thematic clustering visualizes words that were used frequently when discussing a topic. The words in red are being used the most when discussing Bud Light after Mulvaney’s post, followed by the words in blue.
- “Woke” and “Broke” appear often in these conversations, referencing the ‘Go Woke, Go Broke’ saying that many conservative public figures and influencers have been echoing.
- “Nike” is highlighted in the as it was another brand who partnered with Mulvaney in recent weeks. In this section, there are other companies like Tampax, Jack Daniels, and Hershey who have all recently come under fire for similar “inclusive” campaigns with the LGBT community.
- “Trans”, “Queer”, and “Controversy” are also highlighted due to the many comments received about the post. Many beer drinkers are claiming that ‘Bud Light ignored their customer base just to appeal to a small minority within the US’
Top States Talking About Bud Light Before & After
The Conclusion...
- People weren’t really talking about Bud Light before. But they were drinking the beer.
- Dylan Mulvaney’s post with the now infamous Bud Light can sparked a national conversation by both customers and non-customers. In an attempt to appeal to the LGBTQ demographic, Bud Light offended its large working class/conservative customer base. When the CEO denied there was ever a partnership with Mulvaney and that “it was one can,” Bud Light offended the group they were trying to woo in the first place. This was a complete and utter lose/lose for Bud Light.
- Posts from 3/20/23 – 4/23/23 clearly show the evolution of conversation surrounding Bud Light and the dramatic fallout from the controversy.
- Sentiment data shows public opinion of Bud Light went from low-level passive criticism by those who already did not drink Bud Light to radically charged negative terms insisting on boycotts by non-customers as well as loyal customers.
- This avalanche of extremely negative dialogue indicates that if Bud Light had maintained their previous marketing strategy, they would not have faced this massive backlash.
Recommendations for Anheuser-Busch:
1) Anheuser-Busch: Issue a giant apology – Conservatives are angry at Bud Light because they feel their values have been violated, but they do not believe in cancel-culture. Use this to your advantage. If a sincere apology is issued, they will feel vindicated and in time they can forgive the brand and begin to purchase the product again.
2) Do something BIG for first responders/military. Conservatives see these groups as patriotic and will appreciate something that honors them. If this is done incorrectly or insincerely, it will be seen as pandering and will backfire. Making a camouflage can is not enough.
3) **MOST IMPORTANT** Use Convée to evaluate potential marketing promotions BEFORE they are run to ensure they will not damage the brand.
For More Information Contact: gradosd@equitus.us