The Bud Light scandal has emboldened the "go woke, go broke" movement.
That's because unlike most boycotts, the effort to spurn the Anheuser-Busch (BUD) -) brand has worked. Bud Light dropped from being the top-selling brand in the U.S., losing about 26% of its sales.
DON'T MISS: Forget Bud Light (they won't): boycott crowd has a new enemy
It's a very different result than politically motivated boycotts generally deliver. Efforts to hurt Target (TGT) -) because it sold Pride merchandise had limited effect while Walt Disney's current revenue problems seem to be caused more by the massive disruption in the movie industry than by any boycott.
Bud Light, however, is a lot more replaceable than Walt Disney's (DIS) -) entertainment or Target's retail offerings. Boycotts generally fall apart because people are more selfish than they are politically motivated.
That's not just true of right-leaning people. Lots of liberals eat at Chick-fil-A and shop at Hobby Lobby because a decent chicken sandwich and convenient access to hobby supplies trump their political beliefs.
Bud Light is especially vulnerable because all light beer tastes pretty much the same. Nobody misses Bud Light because it isn't a differentiated product. Modelo, the new top brand in the U.S., isn't better than Bud Light; it's just the brand that had the marketing behind it to step into the void.
Bud Light, Coors Light, Miller lite, Modelo — the lack of difference enables right-wing beer drinkers to be outraged by Anheuser-Busch's brief partnership with the transgender social-media influencer Dylan Mulvaney without actually sacrificing anything.
That may also be true of the next company to fall into the crosshairs of the antiwoke crowd, Restaurants Brands International's (QSR) -) Burger King.
Image source: Chen Jianli/Xinhua via Getty
Burger King faces boycott calls
It seems more logical that antiwoke protesters would be angry about a beer brand partnering with a transgender woman than that same group would step up to protect someone accused of rape and sexual assault.
Opposing assaults against women seems in line with a conservative — or anyone's — political agenda.
But Burger King is now facing calls for boycotts after the fast-food brand pulled its ads from the Rumble podcast platform, which hosts shows from Russell Brand, a comedian who faces multiple allegations of rape and sexual assault.
Burger King has not said why it pulled the ads and did not respond to requests to comment from Newsweek. Brand, it should be noted, has denied the allegations, which were made via a joint investigation from British media outlets the Sunday Times, the Times, and U.K. broadcaster Channel 4's "Dispatches" program.
The report alleges that Brand, who was once married to the singer-songwriter Katy Perry, committed rape and sexual abuse between 2006 and 2013.
BK's move doesn't seem like something antiwoke activists would oppose — but a backlash against Burger King acting before any of the allegations have been proved in court seems to have arisen.
Burger King faces a social-media backlash
Burger King was the top-trending term on X, formerly Twitter, on the morning of Sept. 25. Many of the posts were similar to this one from Charlie Kirk, which has received more than 1.1 million views.
"Burger King has pulled its ads from Rumble because the free speech platform refuses to play judge, jury, and executioner of Russell Brand after the UK Governor demanded the platform demonetize him. Reminder, Brand has not been convicted of a single crime. Boycott @BurgerKing. They hate free speech and due process, and their food is poison anyways. Stop eating it," he posted.
"Yep! Time to BUD-LIGHT BURGER KING!" The Sand Reckoner followed.
The danger facing Burger King is that while it's hard to see a movement defending Brand gaining much traction, the burger chain is, like Bud Light, easily replaceable. The anger here may make limited sense, but it's easy enough for people to be morally outraged at the brand when they can just switch to McDonald's or Wendy's.
And while many of the posts simply said they don't eat at Burger King because they don't like the food, countless Tweets took this angle.
"So Burger King is gone woke That's fine Enjoy going broke You've lost my business, Oh and one more thing f*** you If you support canceling someone for vague accusation I support never eating at your establishments," @DBCoope08786318 wrote.
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