Independence Day is nearly here, and Bud Light is hoping beer drinkers on both sides of the trans rights divide will let bygones be bygones over a free one on the house.
In a bid to move on from its divisive Dylan Mulvaney promotion, brewer Anheuser-Busch wants to help people forget the whole controversy by practically giving away its lager.
Under a “Bud Light on Us” rebate valid through July 8, the company is offering Americans in most U.S. states up to $15 back on a 15-pack or larger. In stores where bloated inventories need to be sold before their sell-by date expires, a case might even end up being free if it retails for less than the offer.
“Make your July 4th weekend easy to enjoy,” the brewer advertises on its site.
In the past, coolers would have been stuffed full of ice-cold cans and bottles of Bud Light. But this year other brands like Modelo Especial and Coors Light are likely to take its prized spot.
Once the country’s favorite beer by a good margin, many conservatives have all but sworn off the brand after its former vice president, Alissa Heinerscheid, appeared to belittle her product as too “fratty” and hired Mulvaney, a transgender influencer, to promote it at the start of April.
Sales of Bud Light have cratered, as right-wing beer drinkers staged an impromptu boycott despite the better efforts of country music legend Garth Brooks. Meanwhile, LGBTQ supporters angry that Bud Light tried to disavow the campaign have joined them, leaving the beer with few allies right now.
Amid the controversy, Heinerscheid—the brand’s first female boss in its over 40-year history—was put on a leave of absence before being replaced by Todd Allen, who sought to soothe insulted customers by describing the job as a dream of his.
Biggest ever summer promo campaign
The July Fourth promotion, which can also be reimbursed for Budweiser, comes amid a new summer marketing campaign billed by Allen as the brand’s biggest ever.
Last week Anheuser-Busch released a new ad dubbed “Easy to Summer,” a spin on its brand claim “Easy to drink, easy to enjoy,” in which it portrayed dozens of Americans trying to beat the scorching heat with a Bud Light.
At present, however, the YouTube version posted to its official account logged a paltry 757 likes to over 35,000 dislikes.
Meanwhile, on Twitter, where conservative owner Elon Musk recently declared the trans-affirming term “cisgender” as a punishable slur, the situation is even worse.
Users gave the Bud Light summer spot only around 2,200 likes versus 28,000 comments—many of which were either so graphic or so offensive that they had to be actively hidden by Bud Light account administrators.
Whether offering a $15 rebate off, for example, a case of 24 bottles from Walmart costing just under $18 is going to help the company break the ongoing boycott remains to be seen.
Those consumers who do want to take advantage of the offer only need to submit their receipt online complete with the Universal Product Code before July 22 on mybeerrebate.com, and they will receive a six-month virtual credit issued by MetaBank.
The offer, however, is not valid in several states, including Texas, the second largest by population after California.