The Bitter Truth About the Bud Light Boycott

It isn’t every day that you see right-wing Americans wildly celebrating the fact that a Mexican brand is now the best-selling beer in the U.S. But that is exactly what we saw this week, after the market-research company NielsenIQ announced that Modelo Especial had dethroned Bud Light at the top of the beer-sales charts. Naturally, MAGA fans had not discovered the virtues of globalization. Instead, they were gleeful at the success of their Bud Light boycott.

That boycott began in early April, in response to the brand’s partnership with the trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Conservative influencers ginned up consumer anger among their followers. Celebrities such as Kid themselves stacks of the beer. Not drinking Bud Light became, at least online, a litmus test of commitment to traditional values.