The Bud Light Ad Campaign
Any number of queers on any number of mailing lists were spammed with the following forward in April 1999.> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> From Pride St Louis: Dear Community Member, As you may know Anheuser-Busch (Bud Light) has created an ad depicting two men holding hands (first ever type of ad) with the slogan, "Be yourself and make it a Bud Light". It is awesome! The information was released in a story in the Wednesday Business section of the St. Louis Post Dispatch. As the article explains, the release of the new ad campaign is designed to coincide and show support specifically for St. Louis PrideFest '99. Hundreds of calls have been received by Bud Light at (877) 233-7725 from callers AGAINST this ad. PLEASE HELP!! SUPPORT BUD LIGHT - TELL THEM!!! CALL BUD LIGHT TOLL FREE AT 1-877-233-7725 AND TELL THEM THE AD IS GOOD. Call today and forward this email!!!!!_______________
and i, being the creature i am, had something to say about this particular "cause".
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hi
you know, i think it's really neat that this kind of media (i.e. advertising) is acknowledging that gay people do, in fact, drink beer, (what a shock!) but realistically, this doesn't mean anything as far as the acceptance of gay people in society. Wow, I'm so happy I get to be marketed to, yay! It doesn't empower people or make it more accepted. is some bigot gonna say to himself, "wow, if bud light thinks it's okay, then golly gee, i guess i'll go out and love my gay brothers and sisters." uh, no.
Advertisers like this sense that the Gay Dollar is a mighty dollar, and they feel they're big enough to weather any kind of flack they know they're gonna get. Rednecks won't stop drinking their Bud b/c of one lousy ad, and the "christian [not]rights" aren't the audience Bud is trying to target, anyway. So they get to expand their market and get good gay press for being so "inclusive". gotta love capitalism, eh?
a couple months ago, I would have been just as supportive of an ad like this, but reading the advertising zine "Stay Free!" and seeing the short film at Outwrite about an "anti-pride" rally in NYC, about peeps objecting to the commercialism of companies trying to market gay people by underwriting Pride, which should be a community event, not a corporate one, really opened my eyes to this ploy. i'm not saying don't support it, and good gay images are hard to come by in the mainstream, but just know *why* you're supporting it.
luv,
h~*~