It seems there is an all-or-nothing prospect when it comes to corporations who lend support to activist causes and groups. You can give significantly, market extensively, and give all the proper support publicly, but if there is a blemish to be found in your support then you can become ostracized in a blink.
Anheuser-Busch is finding this to be a reality when it is on the receiving end of commercial retribution this weekend as a result of perceived offenses to the gay community. The famed Stonewall Inn, a recognized site of the birth of the Gay Pride movement, has declared it will be banning Budweiser products this weekend.
New York's Stonewall Inn banning Bud products during Pride weekend https://t.co/IH4FZEnvTq pic.twitter.com/RIG4lJexKu
— The Hill (@thehill) June 21, 2021
At the risk of sounding cis-privileged, this looks a lot like a pampered teen getting upset at doting parents. The ”controversy” surrounds the company having been found to have given money to some candidates over the years who may have taken a stance on niche issues over which the LGBTG leadership has an issue.
But this becomes an issue of getting emotional and not analytical. Per The Hill-
Stonewall also shared data from the Keep Your Pride campaign that said that since 2015, Anheuser-Busch has donated $35,350 to anti-LGBTQ legislators.
The details are in what the outraged leaders are NOT supplying in the data. That figure is the sum total over the span of 6 years. They found some candidates in that period of time who have taken a position on trans-children, which the Stonewall leaders disagreed with, and declare that this is proof Budweiser is posturing on gay rights.
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This ignores that in the past the company has done far more in support. Two years ago, as one example, the company sold commemorative bottles for Pride, donating a significant sum of the sale to LGBTQ causes. The sum total of 6 years of political donations that were noted are dwarfed by the amount given out to gay causes in just one month.
To give an indication of the level the brewer has gone to support Pride causes look at what its British division went through in the name of inclusiveness.
In 2017 the city of Philadelphia added a black and brown stripe to the classic rainbow design, to better represent people of colour within the community. It has since been flown at Prides around the world. pic.twitter.com/EAWDUaUocs
— Budweiser UK (@BudweiserUK) May 31, 2019
Black is for asexuals who don’t feel sexual attraction to anyone. Grey is for grey-asexuals, who sometimes feel sexual attraction, and demi-sexuals who only feel it if they know someone well. White nods to non-asexual allies, and purple represents the whole community. pic.twitter.com/CfAExuxb99
— Budweiser UK (@BudweiserUK) May 31, 2019
And on it went. Black symbolized numerous different things, and we lost count of the shades of blue. Suffice that the company went out of its way to try being inclusive, but it only led to the company becoming a pariah this weekend.
“There are really no excuses, and companies like Anheuser-Busch need to own up to what they’ve done,” Stonewall Inn co-owner Stacy Lentz said in a statement.”
This seems just a tad extreme, given that Budweiser has shown more than passing support with a Crayola-colored logo for the month. Bud has been a backer for a generation.
“For twenty consecutive years, Bud Light has partnered with GLAAD in its mission to accelerate acceptance of LGBTQ people,” said Zeke Stokes, GLAAD Chief Programs Officer. “Bud Light stood with the community at a time when many brands did not, and their continued outspoken support sets the bar for other global brands.”
Until this year, it seems. Decades of work and large amounts of dollars donated are not sufficient when a woke individual can find a detail that they declare disqualifies all of the longtime support.
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