Recent Appearances...

Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/rantburg/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !
Recent Appearances...

-Short Attention Span Theater-

Oldest Brewery in America Shows Bud Light What It Means to Actually Understand Its Customer Base

2023-04-17

[Western Journal] Maybe Bud Light’s executives can take a lesson: Truth in advertising can pay off big, if you have a truth worth selling.

As Anheuser-Busch and its international ownership continue to deal with the fallout from a disastrous decision to bring woke politics into its Bud Light marketing campaigns, an American-owned competitor is capitalizing in a way that’s as simple as it is effective.

And for the nation’s oldest brewery, there’s already one big return on investment.

D.G. Yuengling and Son, based in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, was a largely local beer for most of the years between now and 1829, when it was founded as Eagle Brewery. But it started its expansion from the mountainous east-central part of the Keystone State into the Philadelphia area in the late 1980s and has been spreading since.

The secret to that success is straightforward, the company wrote in a Twitter post published Saturday that has rocketed around social media.

“Yuengling. The Oldest Brewery In America,” the post stated. “Independently Owned and Family Operated since 1829 because we make good beer.” There’s no talk of dredging up wannabe drag queens and posting their simpering faces where they have no place being. Nothing to do with “equity.”

Just the one thing Americans who like beer are looking for: good beer.

Bud Light, a company that built its consumer base on blue-collar America outed itself. It’s being denounced by entertainers like Kid Rock and Riley Green, been boycotted in conservative regions and, most importantly, lost $5 billlion in market value when the Mulvaney gambit blew up.

Link

-Great Cultural Revolution

Ad expert ranks Bud Light's handling of Dylan Mulvaney fiasco among the worst brand gaffes in HISTORY; brand’s post-brouhaha tweet ‘TGIF?’

2023-04-16

[Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News] Anheuser-Busch's handling of backlash to its Bud Light brand partnership with transgender
...mutton, dressed up as pork...
influencer Dylan Mulvaney has been branded a historically-bad marketing gaffe by a leading expert.

In a Bloomberg Opinion column on Saturday, advertising and brands expert Ben Schott called the Bud Light imbroglio 'a marketing case study for the ages' in 'how not to handle brand collaborations in a dangerously polarized space.'

Indeed.

Schott ranked the incident alongside infamous brand 'gaffes' in history, such as the chairman of Barilla pasta's 2013 declaration that he 'would never do a commercial with a homosexual family'.

And in 2006, the CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch notoriously said the company only wanted 'cool' and 'attractive' customers, saying, 'Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.'

'But Bud Light's action is worse than a gaffe, it's a betrayal,' wrote Schott, noting that the brand retreated into 'cowardly' silence, leaving Mulvaney high and dry, as the controversy went kaboom! online and in bars across the country.

'Bud Light actively and eagerly sought out a controversial influencer in a dangerously polarized space, with neither the wisdom to plan for a backlash nor the bravery to stand by its partner,' he wrote.

Schott was sympathetic to Mulvaney - but condemned Bud Light for choosing to use the star for a campaign, then abandon her when the going got tough.

Mulvaney's April 1 Instagram post saw the influencer showing off commemorative cans

Anheuser-Busch's handling of backlash to its brand partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney is facing criticism, after the company seemed to abandon Mulvaney

Musician Kid Rock posted a video of himself shooting at cases of Bud Light, country singers John Rich and Travis Tritt publicly denounced the brand, and Ted Nugent calling the partnership a 'middle finger to their core consumer demographic.'

There was also backlash to the backlash, with shock jock Howard Stern slamming the fury at Bud Light as overblown, and podcaster Joe Rogan calling the conservative outrage over Mulvaney 'goofy.'

As the polarization spilled into barrooms, with patrons trading insults and recriminations over each others' beer choices, a handful of bar owners said they would stop selling Bud Light, at least temporarily, simply to prevent fights.

On Friday afternoon, Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth finally broke the company's silence in a public statement cryptically titled 'Our Responsibility To America.'

Bud Light tweets for first time since Dylan Mulvaney controversy: 'TGIF'

[NYPOST] Bud Light’s official Twitter account on Friday sent out its first tweet since brewing company Anheuser Busch sparked an uproar over its sponsorship deal with transgender
...mutton, dressed up as pork...
influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

"TGIF?" the popular beer’s account tweeted along with a photo of the iconic blue can.

The typically active account has been quiet since April 1 — the day before Mulvaney took to Instagram to announce the deal with the beer giant, promoting a contest that gave Bud Light drinkers a chance to win $15,000.

The advertising sponsorship drew widespread outrage among conservatives, who slammed the company’s decision to partner with a trans self-proclaimed genius as pushing "gender propaganda," and called for boycotts of the company.

Since the partnership, the $132 billion beer company has seen its market value plummet by some $5 billion since the campaign was launched April 1.

Busch distributors around the country have been feeling the fallout, with many bars in red states from Tennessee to Wyoming refusing to stock Bud Light.

Amid the outrage, several Budweiser factories received bomb threats, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed. It is unclear how many facilities were targeted.

The company had previously defended its decision to hire Mulvaney, an actress and influencer with more than 10 million followers on TikTok, where she documented her gender transition.

However on Friday, the company offered a lukewarm apology to its customers.

"We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people," Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO Brendan Whitworth said in a blurb titled "Our Responsibility To America."

"We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer," he added, without mentioning Mulvaney in the statement.

Or not, as the case may be. This is why those in business should avoid talking publicly about their personal politics.

Link

-Short Attention Span Theater-

Country singers Zach Bryan, Sheryl Crow clap back in Bud Light's Dylan Mulvaney controversy

2023-04-14

[NYPOST] Two of country music’s biggest stars ratcheted up the brew-haha over Bud Light’s controversial ad campaign featuring transgender
...mutton, dressed up as pork...
social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

Grammy-nominated crooner Zach Bryan hit out at comments that are "insulting" to transgender people after Travis Tritt announced he was boycotting the Anheuser-Busch product to protest the Mulvaney-Bud Light partnership.

"I mean no disrespect towards anyone specifically, I don’t even mind @travistritt," Bryan tweeted on Saturday.

"I just think insulting transgender people is completely wrong because we live in a country where we can all just be who we want to be It’s a great day to be alive I thought."

Sheryl Crow, the singer-songwriter, responded to Bryan with a "Thank you" and a heart emoji.

In another tweet, Bryan revealed that he has "family transitioning" and that he has "blood to defend here."

Bryan, whose hits include "Heading South," also responded to backlash he received from some who said they were no longer his fans due to his comments.

Tritt had tweeted last week: "I will be deleting all Anheuser-Busch products from my tour hospitality rider. I know many other artists who are doing the same."

"Other artists who are deleting Anheuser-Busch products from their hospitality rider might not say so in public for fear of being ridiculed and cancelled. I have no such fear," he added in a second tweet.

Tritt then indirectly referenced the fact that Anheuser-Busch is a subsidiary of Belgian multinational beverage giant AB InBev.

"In full disclosure, I was on a tour sponsored by Budweiser in the 90’s," Tritt tweeted.

"That was when Anheuser-Busch was American owned. A great American company that later sold out to the Europeans and became unrecognizable to the American consumer. Such a shame."

Link

Britain

Prince Chuck urges Brit families to 'snub the tub'

2010-08-20

Britain's Prince Chuck, the intellectual heir to James I, has told British families to take shorter showers to help protect the environment.
"A bit of B.O. now and then is natural, right?"
He got this from Sheryl Crow, right?
The instruction came at the end of a list of 20 lifestyle changes recommended by the Prince of Wales for his new green campaign, Start.
If they make him king doesn't that mean he has to shut the hell up? Seems a point in favor of Good Queen Liz stepping aside for him.
In separate advice endorsed by the Prince, he was more detailed -- urging people to give up baths in favour of 'short, refreshing' five minute showers.
Are they allowed to use soap?
His campaign website reads: 'Snub the tub. If everybody in a four-person family replaced one bath a week with a five-minute shower, you could save between £5 and £15 per year off your energy bill.'
£5 and £15? The price of a light meal?
However, the 61-year-old Prince might need to tackle his own family's washing habits before telling the rest of the country how to behave. His father the Duke of Edinburgh, 89, takes baths. He slipped in one in 2005 and badly bruised his left eye after catching it with his thumb.
Personally I've always considered bathing a plus...
And Sarah Ferguson, Charles's former sister-in-law and the mother of his nieces, has spoken of taking ice-cold baths on a daily basis to tackle her 'dark' moods.
I can remember the good olde days when I needed the occasional cold shower, too.
As for the Prince of Wales himself, Clarence House last night remained tight-lipped on whether he takes short showers.

Link

Home Front: Culture Wars

Taking the private jet to Copenhagen

2009-12-01

Hypocrisy is the vice we find hardest to forgive, but it's also the one we most enjoy discovering in others. And nothing piques our interest more than eco-hypocrisy as practised by the "green" celebrities who have been spouting green virtue but spewing out hundreds of tons of carbon from their private jets or multiple holiday homes around the globe.

There was Sheryl Crow, who had called upon the public to refrain from using more than one square of toilet paper per visit ("except on those pesky occasions when two or three are required") and who was leading a Stop Global Warming concert tour across America. It was revealed that while Crow travelled in a biodiesel tour bus, her 30-person entourage followed in a fleet of 13 gas-guzzling vehicles.

John Travolta notoriously encouraged the British public to do its bit to fight global warming -- after flying into London on one of his five, yes, five private jets (one of which is a Boeing 707). In 2006 his piloting hobby produced an estimated 800 tons of carbon emissions, more than a hundred times the output of the average Briton, according to the Carbon Trust.

Link

Home Front: Politix

Sen. Harry Reid may need all the help he can get

2009-05-25

Well, now we for sure know why Nevada Sen. Harry "I Did Too Smile Once Back in High School" Reid is calling in the Big Guy for a grandiose fundraiser on Tuesday.

A new statewide poll of 625 Nevadans confirms previous research that the four-term Democrat is not well-liked. In fact, he's downright disliked.

Fully half the respondents think of him unfavorably. Only 38% think of him positively; 11% didn't care, according to the survey by Mason-Dixon for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

About 45% said they'd vote to oust the 69-year-old Senate majority leader, 17% said they'd consider somebody else, and about a third would vote for him. Going into such elections, incumbents prefer 2-to-1 favorable-to-unfavorable ratios.

Reid already has about $3.3 million in the bank to avoid being "Daschle-d": in which a Democratic majority leader is unseated by Republicans as Tom Daschle was five years ago. Of course, Daschle went on to become a millionaire advisor to a rich guy, while not paying a lot of taxes and not becoming secretary of Health and Human Services -- so losing isn't necessarily all bad.

President Obama this week will fly out to Las Vegas on Air Force One for a celebrity-studded funder with Bette Midler and Sheryl Crow, despite his criticism last winter of bankers who go to Las Vegas for taxpayer-funded parties. And then the president will hop over to Los Angeles the next day.

All that Nevada Republicans need to beat Reid is a viable Senate candidate, but there is none yet. U.S. Rep. Dean Heller is a possibility, though he's not widely known.

Republican John Ensign is well known statewide and enjoys a 53% favorable rating. Trouble is, he's already the state's other senator.

Link

-Short Attention Span Theater-

Boston gossip column endorses McCain -- you'll love their reasoning

2008-11-04

"Inside Track" @ The Boston Herald
h/t Jules Crittenden

Today the Track would like to implore all our loyal fans (especially you up there in New Hampshire!) to vote early and vote often: for John McCain.

Do it - not for the children - but for the Hollywood Obamaphiles who we would dearly love to see just shut the hell up.

Alec Baldwin, we love you. But you didn't move to France - as promised - when John Kerry failed to unseat George W. Bush in 2004. In fact, since we keep Track of these things, it hasn't escaped our notice that you are much better off than you were four years ago. You know, to quote a fellow actor.

By the by, Alec, perhaps you should mention to your multiple Emmy Award-winning "30 Rock" co-star Tina Fey that - should she make good on her plan to leave Earth if her doppelganger Gov. Sarah Palin succeeds Dick Cheney - she will lose a ton of TV facetime. A McCain-Palin administration is gold for you, Tina. Gold!

Now, four years ago we were in a similar pickle. The Democrat - John Kerry - was way ahead in the polls going into Election Day. The ubiquitous beautiful people were out in force - in Boston - awaiting the big celebration. The Track spent the afternoon knee-deep in Democratic merriment in the Fairmont Copley Plaza's Oak Bar. As night fell - and the polls closed - we ventured outdoors to scope out the slew of stars due to hit the ginormous stage the Dems erected in the middle of a bone-chilling Copley Square.

But a funny thing happened on the way to Kerry's coronation . . . .

Rock stars like Jon Bon Jovi and Sheryl Crow were supposed to start revving up the giddy gathering of a gazillion left-wingers at 7 p.m. But they started much, much later due to some "confusion" coming out of Kerry camp about the returns. Ahem.

The ubiquitous Black Eyed Peas were there to Get It Started, as were vintage flower children James Taylor and Carole King. But it soon became apparent that their big White House hoedown was turning into a Nightmare on Boylston Street! "It's been an honor and priviledge to work on this campaign," Sweet Baby James told the throng. "I think we've seen an awakening in this country."

Not quite, J.T.

Hollywood hunk Jake Gyllenhaal was in the Hub for the election night party. Oscar gal Hilary Swank, her then-hubby Chad Lowe, Mr. Brat Pack Matt Dillon and actor Fisher Stevens all took the Acela in from the Apple for the historic occasion. We ran into them after Ohio fell to Bush. They were walking through Copley Square like a pack of zombies out of "Night of the Living Dead."

We won't lie to you, it was a beautiful sight!

Later, a visibly shaken Sheryl Crow, who stumbled over the lyrics to "A Change Will Do You Good," tried to put on a brave face: "I think we will all wake up with a positive outlook. There's nothing like a little optimism," she said.

Even the international press was aghast by the political turn of events. "Blah blah blah Presidente Booooosh," spat one Latin American reporter, waving his leather-gloved hands into a camera. MSNBC bigmouth Keith Olbermann had nothing on this dude.

Kerry and his running mate, John Edwards, were scheduled to make an appearance on the Copley Square stage at 11 p.m., but that was a no-go. The vice presidential loser, however, was forced out of hotel hiding around 2:30 a.m, but the crowd had gone home. Ah, the sounds of silence . . .

You have the power to shut them all up again. The Oprahs, the Damons, the Afflecks, the in-the-tank media, the Olbermanns and Matthewses. Granted, Massachusetts is a lost cause. But we have faith in our neighbors to the north. Go, you Granite Staters! Remember, a vote for John McCain is a vote to put the Beautiful People in their rightful place: France.

Link

Home Front: Politix

Obama's New Fundraising Tactic: An Official Soundtrack?

2008-09-20

Barack Obama's presidential campaign, which has inspired a multitude of songs by stars and amateurs alike, is now getting an official soundtrack.
Next up...official action figures, play sets, backpacks, breakfast cereals, lunchboxes and Happy Meal toys. Get them all now, and be one of the kewl kidz!
''Yes We Can: Voices of a ~~Astroturf~~ Grassroots Movement,'' which takes its title from an Obama campaign slogan, features Kanye West, John Legend, Sheryl Crow, Stevie Wonder and others. It will be available for sale exclusively through Obama's campaign starting today.

Proceeds from the CD ($24.99 for a digital download, $30 for a physical product) will help fund Obama's campaign until Nov. 4, Election Day, according Hidden Beach Recordings, which created the CD.

Steve McKeever, CEO and founder of Hidden Beach, a longtime Obama supporter, said he had been talking to people within the Obama campaign about a project like ''Yes We Can'' for a while. ''We had conversations quite some time ago about how to harness what was happening really organically and naturally with so many artists,'' he said. ''The whole concept (was) how do we translate that to inspire and invigorate and also give people a keepsake that they can own while at the same time providing some important capital needed for this campaign.''
If the recording gig goes south, he's a natural speechwriter for John Kerry.
While most of the songs on the disc have been previously released -- such as John Mayer's ''Waiting On the World to Change'' and Stevie Wonder's classic ''Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours'' -- a few of the songs are new, including John Legend's ''Pride in the Name of Love'' and ''Promised Land,'' a song by Malik Yusef featuring Kanye West and Adam Levine of Maroon 5.

The ''Yes We Can'' CD is only the latest musical project inspired by Obama. Earlier this year, an all-star music video featuring Legend, Scarlet Johansson, Kate Walsh, Common, and others, led by the Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am and titled ''Yes We Can,'' became a viral sensation, garnering millions of views on the Internet. Will.i.am followed that up with another celebrity-filled video, ''We Are the Ones.''

There also have been songs by amateurs posted regularly on YouTube.com, while other celebrities -- including Jay Jay French of Twisted Sister -- have sung Obama-inspired songs. Recently, Dave Stewart debuted his own all-star video, ''American Prayer,'' which featured Whoopi Goldberg, Barry Manilow, Forest Whitaker and Cyndi Lauper.

While Republican presidential candidate John McCain has had songs penned for him, such as ''Lead the Way'' by a lawyer named Judd Kessler, he has not inspired the same groundswell of musical support.

The McCain camp said it had no plans to release a CD of its own and greeted news of Obama's with a dig. ''It's ironic that on a day when the economy is in turmoil, Barack Obama fails to release an economic plan, but instead chooses a celebrity rock album,'' said spokesman Tucker Bounds.

Obama said today he was holding off on detailing his plans for the nation's credit crisis because he ~~doesn't have a freakin' clue~~ did not want to risk roiling the markets at such a sensitive time.

After the election, the CD is due to be released through other outlets.

Link

Home Front: Politix

Sinbad critique's Hillary's foreign policy credentials

2008-03-12

Kathryn Lopez at National Review headlined this item:
The Democratic Primary Has Officially Jumped the Shark

Sinbad, along with singer Sheryl Crow, was on that 1996 trip to Bosnia that Clinton has described as a harrowing international experience that makes her tested and ready to answer a 3 a.m. phone call at the White House on day one, a claim for which she's taking much grief on the campaign trail.

Harrowing? Not that Sinbad recalls. He just remembers it being a USO tour to buck up the troops amid a much worse situation than he had imagined between the Bosnians and Serbs. In an interview with the Sleuth Monday, he said the "scariest" part of the trip was wondering where he'd eat next. "I think the only 'red-phone' moment was: 'Do we eat here or at the next place.'"

Clinton, during a late December campaign appearance in Iowa, described a hair-raising corkscrew landing in war-torn Bosnia, a trip she took with her then-teenage daughter, Chelsea. "They said there might be sniper fire," Clinton said.

Threat of bullets? Sinbad doesn't remember that, either.

"What kind of president would say, 'Hey, man, I can't go 'cause I might get shot so I'm going to send my wife...oh, and take a guitar player and a comedian with you.'"

"I never felt that I was in a dangerous position. I never felt being in a sense of peril, or 'Oh, God, I hope I'm going to be OK when I get out of this helicopter or when I get out of his tank.'"

In her Iowa stump speech, Clinton also said, "We used to say in the White House that if a place is too dangerous, too small or too poor, send the First Lady."

Say what? As Sinbad put it: "What kind of president would say, 'Hey, man, I can't go 'cause I might get shot so I'm going to send my wife...oh, and take a guitar player and a comedian with you.'" . . .

Link

-Short Attention Span Theater-

Inmates take swipe at toilet paper cuts

2007-05-01

Notify Sheryl Crow! Somebody took her advice.
Toilet paper is becoming a sought after commodity at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility after officials began limiting inmates to one roll at a time to trim costs.

Officials say the prison has long had a limit, but they learned recently that it hadn't been enforced. Increased enforcement began this month.

Under the prison policy, inmates are restricted to four rolls of toilet paper each month or on an "as-needed" basis.

Saving the world one ~~square~~ roll at a time.

Link

Home Front: Culture Wars

Saving the Earth: The Biodiesel Bus Blog

2007-04-23

Excerpts from the chronicles of singer Sheryl Crow and environmentalist Laurie David, traveling across America on a two-week Stop Global Warming College Tour:

Crow (4/19, Springfield, Tenn.): I have spent the better part of this tour trying to come up with easy ways for us all to become a part of the solution to global warming. Although my ideas are in the earliest stages of development, they are, in my mind, worth investigating. One of my favorites is in the area of forest conservation which we heavily rely on for oxygen. I propose a limitation be put on how many squares of toilet paper can be used in any one sitting. Now, I don't want to rob any law-abiding American of his or her God-given rights, but I think we are an industrious enough people that we can make it work with only one square per restroom visit, except, of course, on those pesky occasions where 2 to 3 could be required.

Crow (4/19): I also like the idea of not using paper napkins, which happen to be made from virgin wood and represent the height of wastefulness. I have designed a clothing line that has what's called a "dining sleeve." The sleeve is detachable and can be replaced with another "dining sleeve," after usage. The design will offer the "diner" the convenience of wiping his mouth on his sleeve rather than throwing out yet another barely used paper product. I think this idea could also translate quite well to those suffering with an annoying head cold.

Honestly: I would expect any mentally-competent 6-year-old to have more sense than this.

Link

Home Front: Politix

Gore announces 'global climate change warming' concerts

2007-02-15

Mark your calendars, folks...
LOS ANGELES - Al Gore announced on Thursday a series of worldwide concerts to focus on the threat of climate change, with a powerhouse lineup from the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Snoop Dogg to Bon Jovi.
Rock on, dudes. Does Prius make a stretch limo yet? You gonna fly there by hot air balloon?
The 24-hour event on July 7 is part of a campaign, Save Our Selves The Campaign for a Climate in Crisis, that promoters hope will trigger a broad movement to address what the former vice president calls a global climate crisis.
Oh, god. Not a new term. So now it's "global climate change warming crisis"?
"In order to solve the climate crisis, we have to reach billions of people," the environmental activist, filmmaker and 2000 Democratic presidential nominee said in a statement. "The climate crisis will only be stopped by an unprecedented and sustained global movement."
...and then he got in his Gulfstream and flew away.
Gore is often mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2008 despite his repeated statements that he's not running. Recently, some former aides met in Boston to discuss a campaign to draft the former vice president.
So how is Tipper, Al?
Fine, Hillary, why do you ask?
Oh, it might be nice if she stayed that way...
The concerts on seven continents will bring newfound publicity to Gore, who already is enjoying celebrity status with his Oscar-nominated documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth." Gore said he was thrilled that the film, on the perils of global warming, was nominated for best documentary and for best song, the latter nod coming for Melissa Etheridge's "I Need to Wake Up."
The Academy Awards are Feb. 25.
Is that before or after the Nobel Peace Prize thingy? I'll bet Al's head is just spinning with all this stuff...
More than 100 performers are scheduled to appear at the July concerts, including Etheridge, the Foo Fighters, Lenny Kravitz, Sheryl Crow, John Mayer, Duran Duran, Korn, Pharrell, the Black Eyed Peas, Akon, Enrique Iglesias, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw.
...and I hope they've already bought their carbon credits? Oh, I'm sure they have.
Promoters said the Live Earth concerts will take place in Shanghai, China; Johannesburg, South Africa; Sydney, Australia; London and cities to be announced in Japan, Brazil and the United States.
Good. Spread that carbon depletion around.
Promoters said the concerts dubbed Live Earth could reach 2 billion people through attendance or broadcasts. Proceeds will create a foundation to combat climate change led by The Alliance for Climate Protection, which is chaired by Gore. The Save our Selves campaign was founded by Kevin Wall, who won an Emmy as Worldwide Executive Producer of Live 8.
Don't get sucked in by them groupies, Al. They'll eat ya alive...

Link

Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/rantburg/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More