Sen. Ted Cruz says Bud Light was trying to ‘target teenagers’ with Dylan Mulvaney ad
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, discusses weaponization in the federal government and the Durham report and explains why he is calling for an investigation into Bud Light over its transgender ad.
Sen. Ted Cruz is putting pressure on the beer industry's regulatory body, demanding an investigation of Bud Light's transgender ad campaign with activist Dylan Mulvaney over concerns the company violated rules on marketing to individuals under the legal drinking age.
"A massive percentage of Dylan Mulvaney's audience are kids. And Budweiser was trying, I believe, with this ill-fated marketing attempt to target teenagers," Cruz, R-Texas, said on "Fox & Friends" Thursday.
In a joint effort with Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., the Texas senator sent a letter to the Beer Institute Chairman Brandon Whitworth who also serves as the CEO of Anheuser-Busch, the parent company of Bud Light. The letter called on the Beer Institute's Code Compliance Review Board to investigate the beer brand's controversial ad campaign with Dylan Mulvaney.
"We're calling on the Beer Institute to investigate the degree to which Anheuser-Busch knowingly was marketing to children in going down this road," Cruz said.
Controversy surrounding the ad campaign began last month. The trans activist revealed that the beer company sent packs of Bud Light featuring the influencer’s face as a way to celebrate a full year of "girlhood" that Mulvaney recently reached. Mulvaney said the cans were her "most prized possession" on Instagram with a post featuring "#budlightpartner."
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is calling on the Beer Institute to investigate Bud Light over its ad campaign with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney. (Fox News)
Bud Light's vice president of marketing Alissa Heinerscheid said prior to the campaign that she was trying "to evolve and elevate this incredibly iconic brand," even disparaging Bud Light’s past branding.
Boycotts from bars, consumers and even celebrities quickly erupted.
"I can't think of a company in modern times that has more alienated its customer base and seem to have so little understanding of who it is that actually drinks Bud Light," Cruz said.
Cruz explained his concern that Bud Light "violated the Beer Institute's Advertising/Marketing Code and Buying Guidelines prohibiting marketing to individuals younger than the legal drinking age."
According to the rules, advertisements and marketing can only be placed in settings where at least 73.6% of the audience is expected to be above the legal drinking age. The senator cited TikTok demographics in the letter that showed roughly 17% of the platform is users between 13 and 17 years old while 42% of the platform is 18 to 24 years old.
The letter outlined that Mulvaney's platform on Instagram and TikTok is targeted towards a primarily younger audience, although no specific demographic data was provided.
"If you look at things Dylan Mulvaney has online, it's things like ‘days of girlhood.’ There's another video where Dylan Mulvaney is singing 'My name is Eloise and I am six.' There's another one where Dylan Mulvaney is shopping for Barbie dolls," Cruz said, referring to Mulvaney's social media content.
"These are clearly things aimed at teenagers and even children younger than teenagers, which violates the rules."
Cruz even compared the ad campaign to the Joe Camel marketing strategy for cigarettes.
"Remember the whole Joe the camel thing? This is the same thing here," Cruz argued.
Fox News' Brian Flood contributed to this report.
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