Anheuser-Busch is facing a backlash from conservative consumers following its decision to partner with transgender personality Dylan Mulvaney as one of its spokespersons. Mulvaney’s face was featured on special edition cans of Bud Light for the March Madness ad campaign and to celebrate the anniversary of declaring himself a woman.

Conservative consumers, bars, and celebrities have joined the boycott against Bud Light’s partnership with Mulvaney, causing shares of Anheuser-Busch to drop as sales tumbled in the wake of the failed ad campaign. Anson Frericks, a former executive at the company, warned that the company was making a big mistake in expecting millions of angry customers to easily forget the pro-transgender move.

Joe Penovich, owner of the Grills Seafood Deck and Tiki Bar restaurant chain, wrote an open letter to Anheuser-Busch on Facebook, expressing disgust with the company’s decision to partner with Mulvaney. Many others criticized Anheuser-Busch’s move, causing the company’s CEO Brendan Whitworth to issue a statement, claiming the beer company “never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people,” while not mentioning Mulvaney or the ad campaign.

In response to the boycott, Anheuser-Busch hired two consultants with experience in conservative circles to advise the brand in its attempt to win back former customers. The beer giant released a new social media campaign with patriotic motifs, with executives believing it would calm outrage among its base. However, the social media campaign was panned by many online users, some of whom framed it as a hypocritical attempt to win back conservatives outraged by the Mulvaney partnership.

Frericks, who was an executive at Anheuser-Busch for over a decade, blamed left-wing investment groups like Blackrock for pushing the once “apolitical brand” into complying with the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ideology of “so-called stakeholders, political organizations, activist organizations.” He urged the company to return to its basic values and focus on things that its formerly loyal customers once enjoyed to win them back.

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