Ron DeSantis Pushes For Legal Action After Bud Light Trans Ad Row

Caroline Frost
·2 min read
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Ron DeSantis has pushed for legal inquiry into Bud Light’s marketing, after a recent ad campaign featuring transgender celebrity Dylan Mulvaney.

The Times of London reports that the Republication presidential candidate and Florida governor has sent a letter to the State Board of Administration, encouraging legal action against Anheuser-Busch (AB InBev), the company that owns Bud Light.

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A recent ad campaign featured transgender personality Dylan Mulvaney, a decision that has polarised potential customers. While Garth Brooks has spoken out in support of the campaign – saying he will sell the product in his Nashville bar – many customers have boycotted the beer, and Kid Rock posted a jarring video of himself shooting cases of Bud Light with an assault weapon and screaming “f*ck Bud Light!”

In April, Mulvaney spoke out for the first time about the controversial campaign, using TikTok to tell followers:

“…I think it’s okay to be frustrated with someone or confused, but what I’m struggling to understand is the need to dehumanize and to be cruel. I just, I don’t think that’s right. Dehumanization has never fixed anything in history, ever…

“What I’m interested in is getting back to making people laugh and to never stop learning. And going forward, I wanna share parts of me on here that have nothing to do with my identity. And I’m hoping those parts will still be exciting to you and will be enough. And to those of you who support me and choose to see my humanity even if you don’t fully understand or relate to me: thank you.”

Morgan Stanley this week published their prediction that yearly sales would fall by more than 20 percent.

The Times quotes DeSantis’s letter, calling the advert ““fateful decision [that] transformed America’s best-selling beer into a commercial pariah,” and accused AB InBev of putting environmental, social and corporate governance aims ahead of profits. DeSantis has encouraged the State Board to discover whether legal obligations to shareholders in AB InBev have been breached.

DeSantis continues to battle with Disney in his home state – the conflict centring out the Mouse House’s criticism of his education policy, banning the discussion of sexual orientation and gender within some classrooms.

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