Big Brands' Big Mistake: Bud Light and the Trans Influencer
Bud Light sponsored a trans influencer and then lost $20B due to boycotts. But what if the boycotts weren't about trans rights? Learn the big mistake Bud Light made from data collected from 4.1k people.
Patrick Campbell
Bootstrapped and sold @profitwell for over $200M to @paddlehq. Deep expertise in pricing, retention, and high output management. How can I help?
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Bud Light sponsored a trans influencer and then lost $20B due to boycotts.
— Patrick Campbell (@Patticus) June 14, 2023
Those folks are bigots, right?
Actually - 89% aren’t boycotting because of trans rights.
This has been bothering me, so I collected data from 4.1k people.
I uncovered a pretty big mistake👇 pic.twitter.com/HRbKTr3lY3 -
Bud Light did what big brands do: chased a top influencer.
— Patrick Campbell (@Patticus) June 14, 2023
I’ve sat in that room.
Everyone's excited.
Someone asks “is this political?”
Their morals get questioned.
Then everyone gets on board because - “TRAFFIC?!”
BUT, these rooms blind you to the true definition of brand. 👇 -
We forget Brand is amorphous.
— Patrick Campbell (@Patticus) June 14, 2023
It’s not one campaign.
It’s not one type of customer.
It’s thousands of touch points with thousands of different audience segments that all come together to form “the brand.”
And boy does the data show Bud Light messed up the brand👇 -
Here’s data from 4.1k people who boycotted Bud Light.
— Patrick Campbell (@Patticus) June 14, 2023
Notice:
Only 25.2% are anti-trans
57% are moderates
17.3% are Democrats or lean that way
“But - then how did one influencer post bring down Bud Light”
It didn’t. Let me explain. 👇 pic.twitter.com/rz233s6v3z -
One campaign that ends up backfiring will fizzle out in the news cycle.
— Patrick Campbell (@Patticus) June 14, 2023
But here's what doesn't:
The media taking the worst interpretation of your VP of brand talking down to current customers in a leaked video, calling them "fratty".
Data shows THIS is what sunk Bud Light 👇 pic.twitter.com/DVDx0K3Zng -
Here’s data on WHY people boycotted Bud Light.
— Patrick Campbell (@Patticus) June 14, 2023
Notice:
53.3% said “they made me feel inferior"
Only 8.1% said it’s because they support trans rights
More people left because, “if you don’t want me, then I don’t want you”.
Not some culture war.
We never learn this lesson 👇 pic.twitter.com/LKn7R8dS7E -
Don't lump people together and talk down to them.
— Patrick Campbell (@Patticus) June 14, 2023
You can make brand mistakes.
You can even change your brand.
You just need to do it slowly and respect the people that got you there.
Or you can spend $20B learning the lesson. 🤷♂️ -
Ok, well back to work. @budlight let me know where to send the invoice. :)
— Patrick Campbell (@Patticus) June 14, 2023
If you found this helpful, you should give the thread a retweet (re-linked below) and follow me @patticus for more analysis and data.https://t.co/evDLJZmfw1 -
Couple of clarifications I should make:
— Patrick Campbell (@Patticus) June 14, 2023
- I wasn't clear enough on the connection between the VP of Brand and the media. Most people didn't see the video or care about it EXCEPT through conservative media who took it and sparked the "they hate you" narrative. This is more the…