Bud Light sorry for ‘rapey’ beer slogan
Bud Light has apologised after a slogan printed on hundreds of its bottles was lambasted for being “rapey” and encouraging irresponsible alcohol consumption.
Part of its “up for whatever” campaign, the slogan proclaimed Bud Light to be the perfect beer for “removing ‘no’ from your vocabulary”.
The controversial tagline quickly drew criticism with social media users registering their disgust at the “offensive” message, accusing Bud Light of encouraging rape culture and irresponsible alcohol consumption.
One user, Debbie Toppozini, wrote on Bud Light’s Facebook page: “As a woman and nurse I am disgusted with and take great offence to your campaign! You should b ashamed of yourselves! I will not buy your products and will tell my friends and family to do the same. You are promoting sexual violence to sell beer!”
Some social media users said the message sounded a bit “rapey” while others were shocked that it had ever been approved.
Admitting that it had “missed the mark”, Budweiser confirmed on Tuesday that it would be removing the slogan from all of its Bud Light bottles.
“The Bud Light Up for Whatever campaign, now in its second year, has inspired millions of consumers to engage with our brand in a positive and light-hearted way”, said Bud Light’s vice-president Alexander Lambrecht. “In this spirit, we created more than 140 different scroll messages intended to encourage brand engagement. It’s clear that this particular message missed the mark, and we regret it.
“We would never condone disrespectful or irresponsible behaviour. As a result, we have immediately ceased production of this message on all bottles.”
@budlight “Perfect beer for removing No from your vocab for the night” Who created that slogan? A serial rapist? #UpForWhatever gone wrong
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— Ashley Long (@ImaginativeMom) April 29, 2015
This Bud Light slogan was so offensive I couldn't believe it was real.
It's real.
http://t.co/cbet5C83C9 pic.twitter.com/HvPGUvdT1s
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) April 28, 2015
Hey @budlight less of the mealy-mouthed apologies, remove the bottles from shelves & make a donation to rape charity http://t.co/EaZafRzcWc — Melissa Cole (@MelissaCole) April 28, 2015
Once again AB demonstrates that it’s less about the beer and more about slogans and gimmicks. That rarely works well and here’s the proof.