Bud Light will be sponsoring an ‘all ages’ drag show on June 17
Jack Elbaum
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It’s been a bad few months for Bud Light after it recruited Dylan Mulvaney to do an advertisement. We all know what happened: The backlash was swift, a boycott ensued, and the beer giant’s sales plummeted by upward of 20%.
This would typically cause a company to change course. But it seems that Bud Light hasn’t learned.
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The Washington Free Beacon reported Wednesday that, on June 17, Bud Light will be sponsoring an “all ages” drag event in Flagstaff, Arizona. According to the flier for the event, at least nine drag queens will be featured, although it is unclear how many will actually be performing. Attendees who are under 15 will have to go with a parent or guardian, according to the flier.
The social media accounts of the drag queens who will be featured reveal their work to be very sexual in nature. Instagram posts from the accounts of every single performer who will be at the event include scantily clad photos of them while in “costume.” Two describe themselves as “sexy,” along with another who opts for the description of a “good girl.”
The content of the show is not a problem in and of itself. If an adult wishes to attend a drag show, that is certainly his or her prerogative. Adults are old enough to make decisions for themselves about what kind of performances they want to attend and how they want to spend their time. The vast majority of people agree with this because it just makes sense. A “live and let live” attitude is ubiquitous in America.
But the calculation is completely different when it comes to children. They are not old enough to make decisions like that for themselves, and there is a societal interest in protecting them from being exposed to certain things. There’s a reason we have a long list of things children aren’t able to do and a long list of places they aren’t able to go. This, too, is understood by the vast majority of the public. Sixty percent say that drag queen story hour is inappropriate for children. The proportion is likely higher when the drag queens are not just reading books but actually performing.
The question, then, becomes this: Why is Bud Light sponsoring this “all ages” drag show that will inevitably expose children to explicit content? What is the brand’s motivation?
And these are not just rhetorical questions. Bud Light must answer.
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The job of Bud Light is to make beer. But the company seems to continue to be preoccupied with promoting stances on social issues that are way out of the mainstream.
Until Bud Light stops, we should not stop calling it out, either.
Jack Elbaum is a summer 2023 Washington Examiner fellow.