WATCH: Bud Light pokes fun at marketing missteps in latest Shane Gillis ad



Just when you thought woke weirdness in commercials couldn't get any worse, along comes Jaguar as if to say, "Hold my beer."

Just as the iconic British carmaker drives its brand off a cliff with its latest ad, Bud Light continues to win back customers with its latest effort — its second spot starring stand-up Shane Gillis.

The Gillis campaign returns Bud Light to its pre-woke era, when the brand embraced comedy to appeal to its young, male customer base

As Blaze News reported in February, the beloved beer brand signed a marketing deal with Gillis in an attempt to repair the damage caused by its disastrous partnership with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney.

The latter caused conservatives to spearhead a boycott, which caused Bud Light to drop from the top-selling beer to the third, while parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev lost roughly $1.4 billion in sales. In a bit of meta-commentary, the spot — entitled "Wrong Commercial" — finds Gillis showing up at what he thinks is the set of his latest Bud Light commercial — only to encounter a snake-handling femme fatale and an existentially depressed guitarist (all shot in black and white).

"I think I'm in the wrong commercial," the flannel-clad Gillis announces, Bud Light in hand. "Yeah dude, this isn't right."

Meanwhile, the actor who is supposed to be in the avant-garde fragrance ad is at the Bud Light set: a raucous sports bar where he has the time of his life drinking beer, eating wings, and watching football.

Gillis' first Bud Light commercial debuted in September.

The Gillis campaign returns Bud Light to its pre-woke era, when the brand embraced comedy to appeal to its young, male customer base in a series of memorable ads, including "Real Men of Genius," "Bud Light Institute," "The Hitchhiker," "Paper or Plastic," "Magic Fridge," "Swear Jar," "Dog Sitter," and "Rock, Paper, Scissors."

This run ended in 2022 when the company promoted Alissa Heinerscheid to vice president of marketing, the first female to fill the role.

From the start, Heinerscheid was outspoken about her intentions to shake things up. During an interview in March 2023, Heinerscheid declared that Bud Light needs to welcome more "inclusivity."

"So I had this super clear mandate. It's like, we need to evolve and elevate this incredibly iconic brand," Heinerscheid proclaimed. "And my ... what I brought to that was a belief in, OK, what does evolve and elevate mean? It means inclusivity. It means shifting the tone. It means having a campaign that's truly inclusive and feels lighter and brighter and different and appeals to women and to men."

Heinerscheid expressed disgust for Bud Light's previous marketing campaigns.

"And we had this hangover. I mean, Bud Light had been kind of a brand of fratty, kind of out-of-touch humor, and it was really important that we had another approach," she stated.

You can watch the Shane Gillis Bud Light commercial below.

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Was the 'Bud Light Boycott' effective? — Is the company STILL WOKE?



Bud Light essentially lost its fan base in 2023 when it partnered with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney — and it’s now attempting to correct course.

The company recently released a football-themed ad starring Shane Gillis that appears to be an attempt to shake off its disastrous LGBTQ-themed partnership, but Jill Savage and Matthew Peterson of “Blaze News Tonight” aren’t convinced the change is an honest one.

“The company apparently took notes,” Savage comments.

“You went from a transvestite to a canceled, red state-coded comedian who’s made a ferocious comeback and is incredibly popular,” Peterson says. “It’s very obvious; it’s transparent, in a way, what they’re doing.”

“I’m very suspicious of all of this,” he says. “What these companies have done for decades is subvert their brands and therefore America’s image.”

“That’s nice you have Shane Gillis on,” he adds, “we like that. And you’ve rejected some craziness and are showing that to us, but have you really changed as a company? What else are you hiding from me? I don’t know, I want to know, and I need to know as a consumer before I start making those choices with my dollars so that I’m not held hostage by woke capital.”

This is important because these companies fund the ideology that most Americans inherently disagree with.

“Something we need to do more of is shame these people with the power of media,” Peterson tells Savage. “You all out there can do that too. We’re going to do that together. We just shame these people and say, ‘What are you doing? Why are you doing this?’ and a lot of them will fold like a cheap suit.”


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Bud Light ditches fake chick for Shane Gillis



Bud Light has taken off its beer goggles.

The massive brand has learned a few lessons from its costly Dylan Mulvaney experiment. Among them: Fake chicks don't sell beer.

In a bid to transition from the ensuing boycott, Bud Light has hired comic Shane Gillis to star in a commercial that hearkens back to the kind of campaign that helped make it a household name.

Bud Light owner Anheuser-Busch had this to say about the partnership with Gillis:

Bud Light and football just go together. From the tailgate to the celebratory cheers in the stands to the round for friends at the bar, Bud Light is showing up for 21+ fans on gameday. Now, to rally college football fans across the country, Bud Light is introducing a new campaign in partnership with actor and comedian Shane Gillis, who stars and co-writes alongside longtime comedy partner John McKeever, who also directed the new content rolling out throughout the college football season.

'Bud Light came all the way back – UFC, Shane Gillis. Let's go!'

Titled "The Dean’s Office," the spot depicts a star football player called before college authorities to answer accusations of plagiarism. The dean offers him a bucket of Bud Light if he makes a confession.

No sooner is he about to oblige then his football coach (Gillis) butts in to confess his own embarrassing secret — and claim his reward.

Soon, everyone including the dean is making confessions — anything for a precious Bud Light.

The new beer ad was co-written by Gillis and longtime comedy partner John McKeever. The commercial also stars Steve Gerben — who co-stars with Gillis on the "Tires" sitcom.

"I like football and beer, especially Bud Light. It was fun to work with McKeever and Steve on this," Gillis said of the advertisement.

The commercial began airing August 31 during college football games on NBC, ABC, and ESPN.

Following the Dylan Mulvaney debacle, Bud Light dropped from the top-selling beer to the third, while parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev lost roughly $1.4 billion in sales since the transgender activist controversy.

Alissa Heinerscheid, marketing VP behind the ill-fated Mulvaney campaign, has said she chose the bizarre spokesman as a way to correct the brand's "fratty ... out-of-touch humor."

"And we had this hangover. I mean, Bud Light had been kind of a brand of fratty, kind of out-of-touch humor, and it was really important that we had another approach," Heinerscheid declared before being replaced.

Despite many celebrities dumping Bud Light over the Dylan Mulvaney boycott, Gillis continued to drink the controversial beer brand.

"Bud Light came all the way back — UFC, Shane Gillis. Let's go! I mean, that's a good move," Joe Rogan noted on his podcast. "Listen, I'm so happy. It just made so much sense. You never let them go. You never bailed on them," Rogan told Gillis. "In the heart of all the craziness, you never bailed on them. Kid Rock is shooting cases of it."

Rogan pitched the idea of Gillis being the new spokesperson for Bud Light during an episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience" in May 2023.

In March, Bud Light became the official beer sponsor of UFC.

The red-hot stand-up comedian has been on a massive winning streak after he was fired from "Saturday Night Live" in 2019. Gillis was fired from "SNL" just four days after being hired after it was reported that he made remarks deemed to be racist during an episode of his "Matt & Shane's Secret Podcast."

The talented comedian self-funded his first comedy special — “Shane Gillis: Live in Austin” — that has garnered more than 31 million views on YouTube. His comedy special “Shane Gillis: Beautiful Dogs” was a top-10 Netflix show in 2023. The Gillis-led scripted comedy series "Tires" debuted as Netflix's second-most watched show in May and has already been renewed for a second season.

Gillis stars in the online "Gilly and Keeves" comedy skit show. "Matt & Shane's Secret Podcast" is the most popular podcast on Patreon. Despite being terminated by "SNL," Gillis hosted "Saturday Night Live" in February. And he just capped off a successful stand-up tour — sponsored by Bud Light.

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Bud Light collapse continues as beer sales plummet to third place



The Bud Light-transgender debacle is apparently continuing to take a toll on the brand after a report found that it had slipped from second place to third place among beers.

Bud Light was the focus of a national boycott after a transgender activist announced a partnership with the brand to celebrate the activist's "100 days of girlhood" campaign on social media.

'I'm not someone who holds a f**king grudge his whole life.'

The brand had previously been at the top slot before the boycott eroded its market share. Last year, Modelo Especial eclipsed Bud Light and remains at the top, but second place has now been claimed by Michelob Ultra, according to the latest report.

Both Bud Light and Michelob Ultra are brewed by Anheuser-Busch, whose stock has lost about 10% of market value since the transgender controversy.

An Anheuser-Busch spokesperson said only that “millions of consumers choose Bud Light every day” in response to the report and added that Bud Light “will always be a mainstay of our iconic portfolio.”

Some of those who were most critical of Bud Light eventually abandoned the boycott. Kid Rock, who amplified the boycott by shooting cases of Budweiser with a gun, later said that he supported the brand after realizing how many American jobs were in the balance.

"I'm not someone who holds a f***ing grudge his whole life," said the musician.

Joe Rogan also defended Bud Light while drinking the beer with a guest on his popular podcast show in April 2023.

In February, the brand hired comedian Shane Gillis as a spokesperson to help regain its consumer base.

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No Matter What Trump Says, Boycott Bud Light

Abandoning the Anheuser-Busch boycott would be a catastrophic error in the culture war.

Comedian Shane Gillis announces partnership with Bud Light after transgender marketing debacle



Comedian Shane Gillis said that he agreed to a marketing partnership with the embattled Bud Light brand after its transgender debacle that involved a national boycott.

"Excited to announce partnership with Bud Light," wrote the comedian on his Instagram social media account. He added photos of himself at a brewery with a Bud Light cap.

The Bud Light brand was severely damaged after transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney announced in April 2023 a partnership with the beer company for its "March Madness" marketing campaign. Mulvaney showed off a beer can design with the activist's visage, though the design was never sold publicly.

Critics immediately lambasted the brand for appearing to turn its back on the traditional demographic who drank Bud Light. Anheuser-Busch, the parent company of Bud Light, lost billions in market capitalization and was knocked off its pedestal as the most popular beer brand in the U.S.

Some have defended Bud Light — like Joe Rogan, who said in one podcast that the company was merely trying to extend its market audience, and UFC CEO Dana White, who argued that the company hires a lot of working-class people and does a lot of good for the U.S.

Gillis has 1.2 million followers on his Instagram account. Some of his followers on Instagram applauded him for the partnership while others accused him of selling out to corporate interests.

The 36-year-old comedian faced politically correct cancellation himself. In 2019, he was picked to be a cast member on "Saturday Night Live" until an online campaign pressured the show to drop him over culturally insensitive comments he had made on a podcast.

"I'm happy to apologize to anyone who's actually offended by anything I've said," he said at the time. "My intention is never to hurt anyone but I am trying to be the best comedian I can be and sometimes that requires risks."

Here's more about the Bud Light debacle:

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Kid Rock confronts Anheuser-Busch CEO, explains why he's against Bud Light boycott, has message for transgender community



Kid Rock said he recently confronted the Anheuser-Busch CEO over the Bud Light boycott. The rap-rock pioneer said he opposes a boycott against the now-controversial beer brand and emphasized that he has no hate for transgender individuals.

Bud Light faced controversy after the beer brand partnered with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney in April.

Kid Rock — whose real name is Robert James Ritchie — was one of the first celebrities to protest the beer brand teaming up with the "Days of Girlhood" social media influencer.

In April, Rock posted a video of himself shooting cases of Bud Light on the X social media platform – which went viral and racked up more than 53 million views.

Rock ranted in the video, "F*** Bud Light and f*** Anheuser-Busch!"

Last Saturday, Rock attended UFC 295 in New York City along with former President Donald Trump, UFC CEO Dana White, and Tucker Carlson. During the MMA event at Madison Square Garden, Rock claimed that he confronted the CEO of Anheuser-Busch.

“I’m standing there with our favorite president,” Rock told Sean Hannity on Wednesday. "And someone comes over, like, ‘The CEO of Anheuser-Busch is standing right behind you.’ So I go over to POTUS. I’m like, ‘Hey, that’s the CEO of Anheuser-Busch.’ Trump’s like, ‘You wanna go talk to him?’ I’m like, … ‘I do.'"

The pair reportedly engaged the AB InBev CEO.

The Detroit rocker told the Fox News host, "We actually had a great conversation. Because if you put this in context, why did this start? It’s like … I told him that night, ‘You signaled to a lot of people like myself, like-minded people … put the trans thing aside for a minute, right. But by sending that can to the trans kid, you kind of signaled to us you support this lifestyle.'”

He added, "And more importantly, like men being in women’s sports; they’re in my granddaughter's locker room. Most of us draw a hard line right there."

Rock clarified that he never called for a Bud Light boycott because of the negative effects it could have on "working-class people."

"I know people that work there, and it's not so cool to be wearing around that blue shirt anymore, going places," Rock said. "This is why they have a problem right now. It's like, I can let the thing go."

"As a God-fearing man, as a Christian, I have to believe in forgiveness," the rock star declared. "They made a mistake, all right. What do you want, hold their head under water and drown them and kill people's jobs? I don't want to do that."

"But I hope — at the same time, I don't want to be their biggest cheerleader," he added. "I want them to show me something to get me back as a consumer, as a drinker."

He also had a message for the LGBTQ community.

“You know, if someone wants to be trans, you know, I didn’t rip that kid,” he said of Dylan Mulvaney. “I said, ‘F you guys.’ I didn’t even say boycott or cancel. I said, ‘F you.’ I said, ‘What are you doing? Injecting yourself into this conversation, these polarizing social issues.’ I was like, ‘You know, you could be doing so much more positive stuff, just making us laugh and drink beer.'”

“If someone wants to dress up like a girl, they want to be transgender or whatever, a lot of people fought and died for them to do that," Rock explained. "Go for it. We can coexist, you know, in public places. You might not be my first dinner invite, you know what I mean? And I’m probably not yours."

“Be yourself. If you’re cool with me, I’m cool with you. That’s how most people are," Rock said before adding, "But as soon a you bring our kids into this, that’s when you’re gonna bring hatred into it. Leave our freaking kids out of it.”

— (@)
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Why Dana White & UFC’s Bud Light sponsorship is a VICTORY for America's culture war



It seems that Anheuser-Busch has finally figured out who its customer base is, and its pulling out all the stops to win it back.

The once-beloved beverage company has landed a six-year, $150 million partnership with the world’s premier mixed martial arts league — the UFC.

However, fans aren’t forgetting Bud Light’s recent celebration of trans activist Dylan Mulvaney and think Dana White might be selling out.

Jason Whitlock believes that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

“I don’t think Dana White and the UFC sold out. Bud Light did. Anheuser- Busch did,” Whitlock says, adding, “forking over more than $100 million in advertising dollars to America’s most masculine sports — that’s what victory looks like in the gender and sexuality culture war.”

Modelo had replaced Bud Light as the beer sponsor of White’s mixed martial arts league, but Bud Light gave the league an offer the UFC couldn’t refuse. According to a source familiar with the deal, Bud Light doubled the amount Modelo had been paying.

“We forced the diversity, equity, and inclusion Gods to wave a white flag of surrender inside a major corporation,” Whitlock says. “We pillaged Bud Light’s marketing department. Dylan Mulvaney’s favorite beer brand capitulated, and it did so rather quickly.”

Whitlock notes that the partnership with Mulvaney began only seven months ago during March Madness.

“Outrage ensued, and then a boycott kicked off. Rocker Kid Rock filmed himself shooting cans of Bud Light with an AR-15 in his backyard. Sales of Bud Light dipped 30%. Anheuser-Busch stock plummeted. The company has been scrambling ever since to plug the gaping wound created by its desire to embrace the LGBTQIA plus alphabet mafia.”

While the company took massive hits after the Mulvaney partnership, it's not going away.

“I want them spending their money with businesses that reflect their customer base,” Whitlock says. “Dana White and UFC fans drink beer and support the kind of rugged masculinity that is under attack in America.”


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Anheuser-Busch showered distributors with $150 million in 'incentive payments' to reportedly keep Bud Light on shelves



Anheuser-Busch showered distributors with $150 million in "incentive payments" to keep Bud Light beer on the shelves, according to a new report.

According to Beer Marketer’s Insights, Anheuser-Busch is offering as much as $150 million in relief this year alone to beer and liquor distributors. AB InBev will reportedly provide the distributors with millions in "market share recovery incentives."

The New York Post reported, "There were no further details about the 'market share recovery incentives,' but the timing is significant as most retailers revamp their shelf space in the spring when they look at the last 12 months of sales and determine which products are hot and deserve more space — and which will lose space."

The relief plan was started in June by Anheuser-Busch and will reportedly continue through the spring.

"Bud Light is set to lose refrigerator space at a vast network of stores belonging to key beer sellers like Walmart and 7-Eleven, since the retailers typically reapportion shelf space based on recent sales performance, taking space away from struggling brands and giving it to hot-selling ones," industry sources told ABC News in September.

Former Anheuser-Busch InBev executive Anson Frericks told ABC News that shelf space is "the single largest determinant of sales in a store."

"During a busy shopping period on a Friday or Saturday night, if you don't have the beer available cold on the shelf, consumers pick something else," Frericks explained. "There will be a dramatic shift."

Dave Williams – vice president of analytics and insights at Bump Williams Consulting – added, "There's explosive growth on one side and sharp decline on the other. This does have that ripple effect where if Bud Light loses space on the shelf, that could make it a longer-term endeavor to claw back to where they were if they're ever able to do that in the first place."

In July, a survey found that Bud Light is no longer one of the top 10 beers in America following the Dylan Mulvaney controversy. In the second quarter of 2023, Bud Light was tied for the 14th-ranked beer brand with a 42% popularity rating. Bud Light was tied with Pabst Blue Ribbon beer.

Anheuser-Busch allegedly did not immediately respond to a request for comment by the New York Post.

Anheuser-Busch waded into a culture war in April when Bud Light partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. The move to promote the LGBTQ activist has cost Bud Light and the Anheuser-Busch parent company with declining sales, revenue, and market share.

The advertising partnership sparked outrage, backlash, and boycotts of Bud Light.

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Keith Olbermann strikes out in Bud Light brouhaha with David Wells, former star pitcher takes swing at Nike's wokeness and coddled MLB players



Former MLB star David Wells replied with a pitch-perfect response to progressive blowhard Keith Olbermann in an online brouhaha over the Bud Light controversy. The former New York Yankees starting pitcher also took a swing at Nike's corporate wokeness and how Major League Baseball players are coddled.

Wells appeared at the 75th Old-Timers' Day at Yankee Stadium on Saturday – which celebrated the 25th anniversary of the 1998 Bronx Bombers squad that won 125 games and captured the World Series.

Wells covered up the Nike logo with medical tape on his Yankees jersey for Old Timers' Day because he disagrees with the sneaker company's politics.

Wells declared, "I hate Nike! They’re woke!”

According to The Athletic, "He said that if he were playing today, he would have cut a hole into his jersey and worn it on the field like that rather than display Nike’s logo on his body."

Wells also said today's MLB players are soft as he defended embattled Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, who is under fire tor the team's disappointing season.

“It always seems that the (general managers), the managers and all of that are getting fired, and getting blamed for it, and it’s the players’ (fault),” Wells said. “If you’re not doing the job out on the field, and if I was a GM, I would start sending a message.”

The retired starting pitcher with 239 career wins under his belt called for MLB teams to send underperforming players to the minor leagues to "send a message."

"I don’t care how much money you’re making," he continued. "Send a message to them and let them go sit down there and think about it. That’s what you have to do. I think now they coddle them too much. They baby them. … It’s up to your peers to make you better."

The pitcher nicknamed "Boomer" recalled a time when he was pitching poorly for the Yankees and the team's catcher, Jorge Posada, got physical with him.

"He slammed me against the pillar and got in my face but I respected it,” Wells said.

Wells added, "But to me, that’s what you don’t see anymore. You don’t see the guys getting in each other’s face. And it’s not a personal thing. You’re here to win, and that’s what they try to do, and I think from seeing my perspective, looking in, they don’t have that kind of camaraderie anymore."

When asked if he drinks Bud Light, Wells fired back, "Nope!"

Former MSNBC commentator Keith Olbermann infused himself into the situation by questioning if Wells no longer drinks Bud Light.

Seeking a rebuttal, Olberman tagged Wells on the X social media platform along with a screenshot of the former star pitcher voicing his displeasure with Bud Light.

Olbermann tweeted, "Bulls**t. @BoomerWells33 would drink wood alcohol. Another f***ing fraud."

Wells struck back at Olbermann with a home run response, "Keith shut the f*** up. Just because you never played the game and all you did was work for ESPN and talk s**t on all of us players because you have a degree in journalism makes you an expert on putting athletes down. And that's if you even have a degree. Stick to your politics."

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