Here is what Bud Light’s capitulation on Dylan Mulvaney really shows

Bud Light’s Dylan Mulvaney promotion created the impression that the corporate beer maker cared about promoting inclusivity.

But Bud Light’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch’s recent moves to walk back its promotion of a nonbinary influencer in the face of conservative backlash shows that the beer maker was never really committed to affirming the rights of transgender people in the first place, MSNBC columnist Katelyn Burns writes.

Bud Light faced immediate blowback in right-wing circles after it created a beer can featuring Mulvaney’s likeness, and the trans influencer herself promoted the beer in an Instagram video.

Some of the backlash was bizarre, including Kid Rock posting video on Instagram of his opening fire on a case of Bud Light.

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But the promotion had consequences that affected the company’s bottom line. The New York Post reports it took a 17 percent sales hit over the controversy,

Several top executives, including Alissa Heinerscheid, Bud Light’s vice president of marketing, who oversaw the Mulvaney partnership, have since taken leaves of absence.

The company issued a tepid apology, presumably directed toward anyone who was offended by its support of transgender people’s rights.

“We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people,” the company said in a statement.

“We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer.”

But Burns contends the company’s capitulation to pressure from right-wing groups shows that Bud Light is more committed to bringing some people together than others.

“The sort of social media promotion campaign that Bud Light did with Mulvaney is ubiquitous in today’s influencer-driven social media world. However, to conservatives, the partnership between a beloved cheap beer brand and a rising trans influencer was too much to take,” Burns writes.

“Before jumping into such campaigns that feature queer people or are aimed at queer consumers, company executives need to ask themselves how committed they are. If a conservative boycott is enough to quickly scare them off, it’d be better if they skip the campaign altogether.”