Bud Light was certainly not the drink of choice at George Strait’s concert in Columbus, Ohio this past weekend.
The King was headlining Buckeye Country Superfest along with performances by openers Chris Stapleton, Little Big Town and Warren Zeiders at Ohio Stadium for tens of thousands of people, many of which opted for beer brands other than Bud Light.
Of course, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably know that the beer company has faced major backlash since April, when Anheuser-Busch brand announced that they would be partnering with Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender TikTok influencer.
It prompted many longtime drinkers to stop buying their products all together, and even some high profile music artists to remove Bud Light from their tour riders and bars.
According to the Daily Mail, Anheuser-Busch has seen its market value plunge by $15.7billion, and it doesn’t appear that it’s going to be doing much better anytime soon.
Conservative political commentator Evan Kilgore shared a video he took of fans at one of the walk-in beer service areas purchasing beverages inside the stadium, and you can see Bud Light on the top shelf of refrigerators in the video almost completely stocked.
Other drinks in the fridges included Michelob Ultra and Budweiser, which are also Anheuser-Busch products, as well as White Claw, which is a separate, privately-owned company.
You can also hear a woman in the background seemingly commenting on all the Bud Light cans still there, saying:
“Who drinks this sh*t? Not me.”
The Twitter video, which was posted on the day of the concert, May 27th, and shared by multiple accounts, has reached million and millions of people… and counting:
Back on April 14th, Bud Light CEO Brendan Whitworth put out a statement noting that they “never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people”:
“We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer.
My time serving this country taught me the importance of accountability and the values upon which America was founded: freedom, hard work and respect for one another.
As CEO of Anheuser-Busch, I am focused on building and protecting our remarkable history and heritage.”
Sounds like the backlash isn’t dying down anytime soon…
George brought Chris Stapleton out on stage for a duet of “You Don’t Know What You’re Missing,” a deep cut from Strait’s 2013 Love Is Everything album. The song was written by Al Anderson and, you guessed it, Chris Stapleton
George and company still have quite a few stadium shows on the calendar for this summer, including stops in Seattle, Denver, Milwaukee, Nashville and Tampa coming up over the next couple months.
George Strait 2023 Remaining Stadium Shows:
June 3 – Milwaukee, Wisc. – American Family Field
June 17 – Seattle, Wash. – Lumen Field
June 24 – Denver, Colo. – Empower Field at Mile High Stadium
July 29 – Nashville, Tenn. – Nissan Stadium
Aug. 5 – Tampa, Fla. – Raymond James Stadium
