Bud Light Apologizes For Offensive New Slogan

[B00Mer]

Bud Light Apologizes For Offensive New Slogan

“The Perfect Beer For Removing ‘No’ From Your Vocabulary For The Night.”

The was the slogan printed on a bottle of Bud Light, a spokesman for the company confirmed to ThinkProgress.

A picture of the bottle generated chatter online after being featured on a subsection of Reddit called r/funny. The section is usually reserved for jokes, so it was initially unclear whether the image was real. In less than 24 hours, the image was viewed more than one million times.

In a statement, Alexander Lambrecht, the Vice President of Bud Light, confirmed that it is a real image:

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. In this spirit, we created more than 140 different scroll messages intended to encourage spontaneous fun. It’s clear that this message missed the mark, and we regret it. We would never condone disrespectful or irresponsible behavior.

The bottle was widely criticized online as being grossly insensitive to issues of rape and consent. Anti-rape activists have long emphasized that the concept of “no means no” is fundamental to sexual relationships, and warned that alcohol is one tool that rapists often use to take advantage of their victims.

The “Bud Light Up For Whatever” campaign has previously been the subject of criticism. The company also received some backlash for a St. Patrick’s Day tweet: “You can also pinch people who aren’t #UpForWhatever.”

The company removed the tweet, saying “[o]ur intention was only to be playful and celebrate the holiday.”

source: Bud Light Apologizes For Offensive New Slogan | ThinkProgress

 

[SLM]

I'm really getting tired of these company's advertisements that they know damn well will get a reaction like this and then they turn around and retract. It's cheap and "gimmicky", it's not provocative or edgy. I think what bothers me most is we're living in the age of the over reaction and this not only capitalizes on it, it promotes it.

 

[Walter]

I usually use gin to get rid of the "No".

 

[Blackleaf]

Bud Light Apologizes For Offensive New Slogan

Offensive? Says who? I don't find it offensive. Don't speak for everybody. Although it's fashionable nowadays to get "offended" on behalf of somebody else.

Plus, you have to drink a lot of American Budweiser (not the Czech one) for it to have any effect on the brain, never mind Budweiser Light. We get shandies in Britain with higher alcohol content.

 

[Sal]

I don't get why it's offensive either... oh well, I can likely live with the lack of information

 

[damngrumpy]

Personally I would have taken the no comment to mean saying no to another beer
However the real problem is we often see culture difference to be among different
peoples from other places, men vs women and so on when in fact we don't
consider the generational divide.
Commercials and slogans are being written by a new and younger generation who
see humor and social values in a totally different light than our turn at generational
power.
They don't have the same language as us older folks if you listen, and that in turn
becomes a problem our offense is their "that's cool"
Not saying its acceptable just saying there is a difference

 

[coldstream]

I think Bud just picked up on the Zeitgeist of the times. We live in a culture of 'Yes'. There are no rules, no responibilities... get what you can, do what you can get away with, gratify thyself.. that is the mantra of the times.

I really don't think they should be criticized for expressing what is now being codified as law, taught to school children and is the exclusive message of the mainstream media. They're just trying to sell some beer in the ethical milieu of the our culture.

 

[Ludlow]

Incidentally the beer tastes nasty

 

[Corduroy]

I think Bud just picked up on the Zeitgeist of the times. We live in a culture of 'Yes'. There are no rules, no responibilities... get what you can, do what you can get away with, gratify thyself.. that is the mantra of the times.

I really don't think they should be criticized for expressing what is now being codified as law, taught to school children and is the exclusive message of the mainstream media. They're just trying to sell some beer in the ethical milieu of the our culture.

I'm not sure if I agree with you in the end, but there is a really good point in there. There is a "yes" culture among the drinking classes and there is a lot of overlap between them and rape culture. Using that slogan is responding to that culture, as marketing does.

But they should be criticized for it. Advertising is part of the media. They are complicit in creating and perpetuating the message through its reflection.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

I'm not sure if I agree with you in the end, but there is a really good point in there. There is a "yes" culture among the drinking classes and there is a lot of overlap between them and rape culture. Using that slogan is responding to that culture, as marketing does.

But they should be criticized for it. Advertising is part of the media. They are complicit in creating and perpetuating the message through its reflection.

But. . . but. . . they say "Please drink responsibly" at the end of all their TV ads!