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A Jack Daniels' summer campaign ad from two years ago featuring drag queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race has resurfaced and is being heavily criticized. This came after netizens called for a boycott of Bud Light for featuring transgender activist and influencer Dylan Mulvaney a few days ago.
Dylan rose to fame on social media after she started documenting her transition into girlhood over the span of several months. She was offered several brand deals throughout 2022.
However, after the influencer shared a video of her collaboration with Bud Light on Instagram, a strong online backlash followed. The vast majority of beer consumers were apparently not interested in promoting Dylan’s gender identity.
Shortly after the controversy, netizens dug up a previous marketing campaign from the Tennessee-based whiskey company that featured drag queens. Even though the campaign is from 2021, users on social media did not back off from criticizing the brand either.
One user @MarkDomel wrote on Twitter that bringing up the whiskey ad would be beneficial since it would help a lot of people reduce their consumption of alcohol.
Netizens react to Jack Daniels summer campaign featuring drag queens
The popular whiskey company based in Lynchburg, Tennessee, partnered with three performers from RuPaul’s Drag Race back in 2021. Drag queens Manila Luzon, Bebe Zahara Benet, and Trinity the Tuck participated in a three-episode series called Drag Queen Summer Glamp.
The series was sponsored by Jack Daniels' Tennessee Fire. The brand aired the series online during Pride Month, i.e., June of that year. The three-episode series centered around the three drag queens planning to celebrate Pride Month with Southern barbecue and the famous Tennessee whiskey.
Back then, Jack Daniels' Fire brand manager Lauren Richmond stated in a press release that the campaign reaffirmed their commitment to the queer community. He said:
“This series demonstrates our brand’s holistic approach to engaging the consumers we serve through culture and unexpected partnerships.”
However, netizens took offense to the whiskey brewer’s Pride campaign as they called for a boycott of the brand. Many labeled the company as “woke.”
After country singer Travis Tritt called to boycott Bud Light, he shared the 2021 Jack Daniels' campaign and asked everyone to take a look at it. However, even amidst a strong negative response from the majority of the U.S. population on Twitter, several people stood up for the LGBTQ+, especially the trans community.
Dylan Mulvaney's Instagram post promoting Bud Light started the online outrage
The outrage against alcohol brands started with Dylan Mulvaney’s April 2 post on Instagram, where she promoted her collaboration with Budweiser’s Bud Light sub-brand. She shared that the company sent her a customized can with her face on it as a token to celebrate her 365 days of being a girl.
In another video, Dylan can be seen drinking a Bud Light can in her bathtub. The Conservatives criticized the beer brewer’s decision to form an association with a trans activist. After Jack Daniels' collaboration with the drag queens surfaced, these people noted that both these companies forgot their target audience, claiming that only men drink beer and whiskey.
