2023 Rewind: Bud Light Too Gay? Conservative Activist Drops Ultra Right Beer
This piece is part of EDGE's 2023 Rewind series. We're reaching into our archives and sharing some of our favorite stories from the past year.
In lieu of Bud Light's embrace of Dylan Mulvaney as a spokesperson, a conservative Georgia activist looks to supply his peers with a new beer brand. Called Conservative Dad's Ultra Right Beer, it is the brainchild of Georgia conservative Seth Weathers, who decided to start a business that would allow outraged right-wingers to boycott the brand and drink a "100 percent woke-free beer," reports Newsweek.
"Less than 24 hours after launching his Conservative Dad's Ultra Right Beer, Weathers — the former director of Donald Trump's 2016 Georgia campaign — told Newsweek the response has been 'absolute insanity,' saying there are already 'thousands' of pre-orders for his product."
In the short ad posted on Twitter, the camera-ready Weathers is dressed in a blue hooded sweatshirt with the words "FREEDOM SPEAK UP" in all caps. It begins with him walking by a female restroom when he says: "America has been drinking beer from a company that doesn't even know which restroom to use."
It cuts to grainy footage of Dylan Mulvaney's Bud Light posting from a week ago that shows the influencer in the bathtub. Weathers then emerges from a men's room to explain his brand as he opens a can. "That's why I created conservative dad's Ultra right 100% woke free beer."
He continues as he walks across a baseball field. "As conservatives were constantly getting hit in the face left and right by the woke mind virus. The last place we want it is in our beer." (After the word "right," he casually catches a ball thrown his way.)
He then walks with a baseball bat over his shoulder. "If you know which bathroom to use, you know what beer you should be drinking. Stop giving money to work corporations that hate our values."
To double-down his point, he swings at a can of Bud Light in slow motion (showing some skin in the process), knocking the can out of the frame.
The ad ends with a dramatic shot of looking up from the bottom of the bat to the standing Weathers looking down as he says in a rising voice: "And for the rest of you woke corporations, stay the f*ck away from our kids."
The video ends with a link to the brand's website.
The 38-year old former political consultant already markets products targeted at a conservative clientele — including "Let's go Brandon" merchandise, a political slogan and internet meme used to generally insult President Joe Biden. He said he created the "Ultra Right Beer" to "give conservatives another alternative, another company to buy from rather than a company that literally opposes everything conservatives stand for."
Weathers called Bud Light — owned by Anheuser-Busch, which is part of Belgium-based brewing giant AB Inbev — "an American iconic brand" that has alienated its conservative customers. "They'd sponsor Dylan Mulvaney but they'd never in their wildest dreams sponsor Tucker Carlson, why is that?," he told Newsweek.
"Bud Light's partnership with Mulvaney was announced on April 2 by the 26-year-old influencer on her Instagram account. She put up a post promoting the beer brand's NCAA's March Madness contest, sparking calls from conservatives to boycott the brand," adds Newsweek.