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'Cowards!' Bud Light blasted for turning off comments on country-themed commercial on social media

The commercial showed four friends opening cans of Bud Light at a Country music festival

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI: Bud Light is being slammed for turning off comments on a country-themed commercial they uploaded on YouTube. The commercial debuted during the NFL Draft on Thursday, April 27, but it was later posted on YouTube. It shows four friends opening cans of Bud Light at a Country music festival, with the song 'Chicken Fried' by the Zac Brown Band playing. The commercial was designed to appeal to the humor of what was lost due to the recent controversy -- the company's more traditional market.

Anheuser-Busch's brand Bud Light's partnership with controversial transgender TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney on April 1 resulted in a nationwide boycott of the beer company. It cost the company over $6B. It was reported that Bud Light marketing executive Alissa Heinerscheid has taken a leave of absence.

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The video has garnered over eight million views in the three days since it was released. However, it got less than 200 likes, compared to which the song, 'Chicken Fried', uploaded as many as 14 years ago, has 135 million views and 571,000 likes. How many dislikes the new commercial received is unclear as YouTube has removed the feature. 

'I would love to be someone non confrontational'

The commercial was released just a day after Mulvaney returned to social media for the first time after the controversy started. "I don't know if reincarnation is a thing, but in my next life, I would love to be someone non confrontational and uncontroversial," she said, pledging to continue sharing content on social media.

On April 14, Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth said, "We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer." He added, "My time serving this country taught me the importance of accountability and the values upon which America was founded: freedom, hard work and respect from one another."

'What are you afraid of?'

Social media users took to Twitter to slam Bud Light over the new commercial, with a user saying, "Hah, Bud Light turned off the comment section on YouTube for their new commercial b/c We outnumber them by A Lot!! Cowards." "No matter what they do, it screams cringey," one user wrote, while another said, "It’s too late. Damage done."

"Just saw your new throwback commercial showing the good old days. Cowards. The good old days are gone until you address the womanface situation. You underestimate our memory, further insulting us. 1 solid month of insult, and now you think we are coming back. Get lost," one user wrote. Another said, "Hey @AnheuserBusch, @budlight, why did you turn the comments off on your @YouTube ad? What are you afraid of? LOL". "@budlight why did you turn comments off your new ad you cowards," said one user.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.