Kid Rock and John Rich Still Selling Budweiser at Their Bars After Removing Bud Light From Menus

By Andrew Roberts

The backlash against Bud Light and high-profile responses from the likes of Travis Tritt, Kid Rock and John Rich continues to froth. Anheuser-Busch partnered with transgender TikTok influencer and activist Dylan Mulvaney, who has 10 million TikTok followers, and riled up conservative critics in the process. The influencer also posted a video as part of the deal, showing a personalized can that the company gave her as a gift.

Kid Rock made waves with his response to the decision, posting to his 1.1 million followers that "grandpa was feeling a little frisky" and he blasted a bunch of Bud Light with a rifle before saying f-k Bud Light and its parent company.

Rich took a more business-minded approach, removing the beer from his bar and it's beer can flag, according to Billboard. Tritt took a similar route, removing it from the riders and venues where he will perform. Still, all three took similar routes to snarl at Anheuser-Busch over the marketing deal with a trans person, and at least two of them apparently are still selling the company's beer.

As writer Blake Ells shares on Twitter, he visited both Rich's bar and Rock's Big Ass Honky Tonk Rock N Roll Steakhouse in Nashville. At Rich's Redneck Riviera, Ells ordered a Budweiser with no problem. It would also seem that Michelob Ultra and Stella Artois are on tap. "I just walked into John Rich's Redneck Riviera and ordered a Bud Light to see what would happen so you don't have to. It seems that John has actually banned Bud Light from his bar, but he did not ban Budweiser from his bar. Will report from across the street soon," Ells wrote with the photo. He later confirmed the same situation at Rock's BBQ Hootennanny.

If this confirms anything concretely, it's that major corporations own several different brands and market to a variety of people. If you think the whole controversy, including AB's apology on Friday that managed to anger all sides, is stupid, you might be onto something.

Still, the apparent boycott of Bud Light seems to be continuing for right now. Despite a long history of LGBTQ support, it wasn't until now that a boycott was required it seems. It is also hard to comprehend how supporting other LGTBQ-friendly beer brands works out in the end. We'll have to wait and see, especially once the next big outrage takes over the news cycle.

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