One thing about me? I loooove learning from other people’s mistakes if it means I didn’t have to make them first.

Like yes, thank you for taking that L for the rest of us you sacrificial little lamb, you x

Bud Lights drama last year is a great example. So let's take a look into what went so wrong for them.

If you’re new here, and by here, I mean planet earth, I’ll give you a run down.

Basically, Bud Light did a promotional TikTok featuring transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

And, unsurprisingly, their audience hated it.

So much so that it tanked their profits, caused a literal boycott, and a huge social media sh*tstorm for them.

Kid Rock even posted a video of him destroying cases of the product with a machine gun (dramatic, sheesh.)

Now, please understand, I’m not saying Bud Light’s blunder was collaborating with Mulvaney.

Their mistake was the response to said tantrum. Or lack of.

The company neither defended their promotion with Mulvaney, nor appeased the opposers.

And ended up pissing EVERYONE off in the process.

In a statement, they claimed they “never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people.”

Unfortunately, that’s what they did.

They didn’t bend the knee to the haters, because well, why would you. But they also didn’t defend themselves or Dylan Mulvaney. And with that, they lost the whole LGBTQ community.

Because why would you use them for marketing and then not stand behind them when there is (unfortunately, inevitable) backlash?

If you stand for nothing, you’ll fall for everything.

And boy did they fall. Particularly their stocks.

InBev’s U.S.-listed shares have fallen 17.3% since last year. Bud Light also lost its top spot in the U.S beer market.

So, what did we learn?

No matter how big, or successful your brand is, you’re not immune to the sh*tstorm.

What counts is how you respond.

And how you respond needs to be authentic and sincere.

That’s all for now x

-Sophie, Pop Culture Queen