Men Dressed in Drag in Bud Light Commercial Resurfaces—’Ladies Night’
Don Rickles #DonRickles
A 30-year-old Bud Light commercial featuring four men in drag ordering the beverage at a bar has resurfaced on social media, amid the ongoing furor over the brand’s recent partnership with Dylan Mulvaney.
For several weeks, the beer brand has been the focus of a deeply-divided debate after sending transgender influencer Mulvaney a personalized can of its product.
Earlier in April, Mulvaney shared a video on Instagram in which she explained that Bud Light had sent her a can with her face on it to commemorate 365 days of her living as a woman. Mulvaney’s Days of Girlhood video series, which charts her first year of transitioning, has been a viral success.
Men Dressed In Drag In Bud Light Commercial Resurfaces—’Ladies Night’
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The partnership has drawn condemnation from some social media users, who issued calls for a boycott. Amid the backlash, musician Kid Rock shared footage of himself opening fire on a stack of Bud Light cans.
Country music star Travis Tritt reacted by announcing he would no longer request any Anheuser-Busch products on his tour rider.
Amid the criticism and reports of plummeting sales, some executives at Bud Light recently took a leave of absence, including marketing head Alissa Heinerscheid and Daniel Blake, who oversees marketing for Anheuser-Busch’s mainstream brands.
Perhaps, in part, because of the absence of social media, the reaction was decidedly different in 1993, when a Bud Light commercial was released that showed four men in drag going to a bar and ordering the beer.
“Tonight is ladies’ night and there’s a special on Bud Light,” the bartender told the mustachioed quartet.
The clip, which was part of a series of drag-themed ads, was this week shared on Reddit, where one user pointed out that “it’s not even a trans joke. It’s not making a statement on gender identity. It’s just straight ‘haha look how far men go for Bud.'”
Analyzing the ad on its website, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) said the commercial was more of a play on the comedy at the time.
“This Budweiser ad isn’t meant to parody transgendered persons or gays, it plays on the Ms. Doubtfire/Tootsie joke of obvious men dressing as women out of need—it’s older than television,” read the statement.
“The campaign has been so successful it has run for many years and has carried variations that included [comedian] Don Rickles mistakenly picking up one of the women. One variation that was shot but never aired included a Los Angeles drag queen.”
Like the 1993 version of the commercial, Rickles’ ad, which debuted in 1997, was aired under the theme “Ladies Night.” Kool & The Gang’s 1979 disco/funk classic of the same name served as the soundtrack.
In recent weeks, Bud Light has been subject to bomb threats, which resulted in a bomb squad being dispatched to an Anheuser-Busch facility in Los Angeles after authorities said they had uncovered a threatening email.
An employee with the company told Patch Media that other threats were made to facilities across the U.S. after Mulvaney’s Bud Light post.
In an April 14 press release, Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth said the company had no intention of dividing people.
It stated: “We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer.”
The statement continued: “I care deeply about this country, this company, our brands, and our partners. I spend much of my time traveling across America, listening to and learning from our customers, distributors, and others.
“Moving forward, I will continue to work tirelessly to bring great beers to consumers across our nation.”
Newsweek has contacted representatives of Anheuser-Busch via email for comment.
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