Budweiser got hammered after they partnered with a transgender activist.
The beer giant lost billions in the boycott that followed.
And Budweiser just made one patriotic move that has Dylan Mulvaney's supporters fuming.
Budweiser Goes All-In on America for Super Bowl LX
Budweiser unveiled its Super Bowl LX commercial this week and the message couldn't be clearer: we're going back to basics.
The 60-second "American Icons" spot celebrates the beer brand's 150th anniversary by doubling down on the two symbols that built Budweiser's reputation — the Clydesdales and the American bald eagle.
The ad follows a Clydesdale foal befriending a young eaglet.
As Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" plays, the animals grow together over time until the eagle finally takes flight from the galloping horse's back in a moment straight out of American mythology.
"As we celebrate Budweiser's 150th anniversary and America's 250th birthday, we knew we had to rise to the occasion in a way only Budweiser can," Todd Allen, Budweiser's senior vice president of marketing, said.
Two farmers watch the whole thing unfold while cracking Budweisers.
"You crying?" one asks the other.
"Nah. Sun's in my eyes," comes the response.
The commercial marks the Clydesdales' 48th appearance in a Super Bowl ad since they first trotted onto screens in 1986.
This Is Budweiser's Big Attempt To Win Core Customers BackAfter the Dylan Mulvaney Disaster
The timing isn't subtle and Budweiser knows it.
In spring 2023, parent company Anheuser-Busch partnered with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney for a Bud Light promotion that triggered the biggest consumer revolt in modern American business history.
Kid Rock shot cases of Bud Light with a machine gun.
Country stars Travis Tritt and Ted Nugent pulled the brand from their tours.
Conservative consumers walked away in droves and never came back.
Bud Light sales crashed 25% overall with some distributors reporting losses as high as 50%.
The boycott cost Anheuser-Busch over $1.4 billion in lost sales for 2023.
After holding the title of America's top-selling beer for more than two decades, Bud Light fell to second place behind Modelo Especial by June 2023.
The company's weak response made things worse.
CEO Brendan Whitworth released a vague statement about "bringing people together over a beer" that satisfied nobody.
Dylan Mulvaney herself said Bud Light never reached out to support her during months of death threats and harassment.
The Left accused Budweiser of abandoning LGBTQ causes.
Conservatives said the damage was already done.
Now Budweiser is executing what amounts to a full brand reset with the most overtly patriotic Super Bowl commercial in years.
This isn't the first time Budweiser tried to smooth things over with patriotic imagery after the Mulvaney disaster.
In 2023, the company rushed out an ad featuring a Clydesdale galloping past the Lincoln Memorial and New York skyline while a narrator praised "the American spirit."
That stopgap spot got mocked as transparent damage control and even led to safety concerns when Bud distributors canceled Clydesdale show events due to threats.
The difference this time is Budweiser committed to the strategy months in advance with a carefully produced commercial built around the company's actual 150th anniversary.
Conservative Fans Are Welcoming Budweiser Back While the Left Seethes
Social media reaction to "American Icons" shows Budweiser might finally be threading the needle.
"Well done, Budweiser. Welcome back to being American," one person wrote on X.
"If this doesn't give you chills, you can't call yourself an American!" another commented.
"Dear NFL, could we just cancel the Super Bowl halftime show and watch this repeatedly on the Jumbotron instead?" someone else suggested.
Brian Downey, owner of Downey's Bar & Grill in the Bronx, told Fox News Digital the ad captures what heartland America wants to see.
"The Budweiser eagle ad is a reminder of what Americana looks like — strength, pride and love for this country," Downey said.
"It's a nod to the beer drinkers who embody that spirit."
Taylor Lowry, a bartender at Grease whiskey bar in West Palm Beach, Florida, said the symbolism resonates.
"The bald eagle represents what Americans want to be — powerful and free," she told Fox News Digital.
One commenter wrote, "They made one mistake & have realized it … I forgive them."
Maybe they’ve seen the true moral bankruptcy of trying to normalize biological lies and trying to profit off a lost, confused soul.
Maybe they haven’t.
What is true is that there’s never going to be a beer company that isn’t profiting off lost, confused souls of one kind or another.
Most Americans would agree it’s up to you to decide your level of responsibility and whether or not to spend money with them.
As long as they’re not intentionally trying to push irresponsible use of their products or target alcoholics or kids, they’re free to go about their business as they please as far as we’re concerned.
Most Americans would agree it’s up to you to decide your level of responsibility and whether or not to spend money with them.
But they’ve shown for sure that giant corporations won’t care what your values are until you demonstrate that there’s a cost to crossing yours.
They push transgender activists one year and bald eagles the next because they're chasing dollars.
Principles can be pandered to.
Budweiser thought pandering to progressives would save a dying brand.
The company's former vice president of marketing Alissa Heinerscheid said in March 2023 that Bud Light needed to move away from "fratty and out-of-touch humor" toward something more "inclusive."
That brilliant strategy torched the brand's relationship with customers who'd been buying Budweiser for decades.
Now the company's crawling back with Clydesdales and "Free Bird" hoping America forgets they called us fratty and out-of-touch.
The real test comes February 8 when "American Icons" airs during Super Bowl LX.
Conservatives either welcome Budweiser back or they don’t.
Every other woke CEO in America will be watching to see if going patriotic after going woke actually works.
Sources:
- Andrea Margolis, "Budweiser unveils patriotic new Super Bowl ad honoring 'deep-rooted American heritage'," Fox News, January 30, 2026.
- "Bud Light boycott likely cost Anheuser-Busch InBev over $1 billion in lost sales," CNN Business, February 29, 2024.
- "Bud Light sales plunged after boycott over campaign with transgender influencer, company reveals," NBC News, August 3, 2023.
- "Budweiser Clydesdales Super Bowl Ads: An Emotional History Of Beer & Tradition," American Craft Beer, January 2026.
- "How Target, Bud Light turned off loyal customers in 2023," Fox Business, December 27, 2023.
