One Year Later: How Bud Light's Dylan Mulvaney Fiasco Pushed Beer Industry To Rewrite Its Ad Standards - Trans influencer could have to delete Bud Light posts that blatantly violate new beer industry guidelines

[Ubiquitous]

It was one year ago, on February 11, 2023, that Dylan Mulvaney, the
transgender-identifying social media influencer, posted a video of
himself drinking Bud Light in a bathtub — paid promotion that
permanently altered not only Bud Light’s reputation, but now also the
ad standards for the entire beer industry.

While Bud Light dealt with the public outcry and a nationwide boycott
over its partnership with Mulvaney, it fought a less high-profile legal
battle over whether the promotion of beer by Mulvaney — who often
presents on social media as an entertainer for kids — was compliant
with industry standards that ban marketing alcohol to minors.

U.S. Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), both members
of the Commerce Committee, wrote a letter on May 17, 2023, that sparked
a formal review by the beer industry’s self-regulating body, the Beer
Institute, into whether Bud Light was targeting minors through its ads
with Mulvaney.

Mulvaney posted just twice as a Bud Light partner, first on February 11
in the bathtub timed with last year’s Super Bowl and then again on
April 1 for March Madness, with the latter post generating the outrage
that cost the company billions of dollars. The company first reviewed
the possibility of hiring Mulvaney in December 2022 and went on to pay
him a reported $185,000 for the two posts.

The senators in their letter state that Mulvaney was brought on as part
of Bud Light’s strategy to “attract young drinkers” and pointed to his
several posts aimed at children, including one in March, right in the
middle of his two posts for Bud Light, in which he posed as a 6-year-
old children’s book character named Eloise.

@dylanmulvaney
Childhood dream unlocked ?? #eloise #plazahotel

? Eloise – Emily Christine Peterson

The charge was reviewed by the Beer Institute’s “Code Compliance Review
Board,” which in a July decision found that Bud Light did not violate
its Advertising and Marketing Code. But just two months later that code
was quietly revised — the Advertising and Marketing Code that beer
companies are required to adhere to now includes new language on social
media influencers that would appear to forbid any brewer from working
with Mulvaney.

The guidelines also appear to mandate that Bud Light go back and
reassess the Mulvaney posts based on the new standards.

The updated standards state that a brewer must conduct “after-the-fact
audits” at least twice a year of all its influencer placements. “If a
Brewer learns that an advertising placement did not meet the Code’s
audience demographic standard,” the Beer Institute states, recommended
steps include having the post removed.

The standards at the time of the initial review made no mention of
influencers, and Bud Light’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch, used that
to say it wasn’t responsible for reviewing influencer posts, and didn’t
with Mulvaney. The company told the review board that influencer
campaigns are “unique” because the content is “not controlled by the
brewer,” but rather the “influencers develop their own content and post
it on their own page.”

That’s no longer an acceptable process. The new standards, which were
announced in a September 28, 2023, press release but received no media
attention, say that social media influencer content needs to be held to
the same standard as other ads.

The standards were updated just weeks after Cruz urged action in an
August 15 letter in which he bemoaned the lack of standards for social
media posts. “It is concerning, for example, that brewers do not
prescreen branded content by social media influencers,” Cruz wrote,
noting Bud Light’s initial defense that influencer posts were “unique.”

The guidelines state that social media posts can only be placed where
at least 73.8% of the audience is of legal drinking age — the same
standard as for traditional advertisements — and that “age-gating
measures” must be used if available.

Not only do independent analyses of Mulvaney’s audience call into
question whether his audience is sufficiently composed of drinking-aged
adults, but there is no indication that Mulvaney is using Instagram’s
age restriction tools. The Daily Wire signed up for an Instagram
account stating that it was underage and was able to access his Bud
Light promotion.

While Anheuser-Busch stated in its initial defense of the Mulvaney
posts that it conducted an “audience composition study” and found that
roughly 80% of his audience was 21 or older, its review appears to be
insufficient. The company conducted a single analysis when it first
engaged with Mulvaney in December 2022 and used it to justify both
posts in the coming months.


Beer companies are required, however, to continually analyze the
audience of their influencers. If Bud Light had, it would have likely
learned that Mulvaney wasn’t an acceptable option.

An independent analysis conducted on the publication date of this story
by The Daily Wire using Modash, a leading influencer analysis products,
found that over half of Mulvaney’s followers are 24 or under — 7.95%
are aged 13-17, and 45.32% are aged 18-24. It is impossible to know the
exact composition of his followers based on Instagram’s data because
the cutoff date for alcohol, 21 years old, is right in the middle of
the 18-24 segment. But if just half of the 18-24 portion were under 21,
then Mulvaney would fall below the acceptable threshold.

Cruz, in his August letter that appears to have prompted the updated
standards, cast serious doubt about assumptions made by Bud Light in
its audience review. One complaint stated by the Texas senator is that
Bud Light guessed the proportion of 18-24-year-olds that were actually
over 21 based on an assumption that users are evenly distributed by age
— it only counts 42% of that group as underage — even though there is
no evidence to suggest that’s the case.

It’s likely the case that there are far more young people on Instagram
than its data suggests. The social media platform relies on the honesty
of users to determine their age, with little to no age verification
tools. Surveys show that minors regularly lie about their age to obtain
social media profiles. It is therefore likely that the studies
overstate the number of users who are adults.

It is unclear whether Anheuser-Busch has conducted a single analysis of
Mulvaney’s audience since its initial review before the posts, even
though the new standards require it to.

Anheuser-Busch did not respond to a request for comment on the Mulvaney
posts, and whether it has reviewed them since the updated standards
were released. Mulvaney also did not respond to inquiries.

The Beer Institute declined to comment on whether any action has been
taken regarding Mulvaney’s posts since the standards were updated, and
whether any action is required.

“The Code Compliance Review Board, an independent review board convened
by the Beer Institute, has already carefully assessed the posts and
determined that there was no violation of the Beer Institute
Advertising and Marketing Code,” a Beer Institute spokesman told The
Daily Wire, a statement that disregards the fact that the Advertising
and Marketing Code was amended after the review.

Cruz warned the Beer Institute in his August letter that a failure to
take his concerns seriously would force him to legislate away the
industry’s self-governing situation.

“There are currently no federal laws against advertising alcohol to
minors, in part because of the beer industry’s professed commitment to
self-regulation,” Cruz wrote. “As Ranking Member on the Commerce
Committee, it is my duty to ensure that the Beer Institute’s private
regulatory regime is working; if it is not, then our Committee may be
forced to consider legislating to protect consumers, including
impressionable children.”

Cruz made clear in his latest letter on the topic that the Beer
Institute’s absolvement of Bud Light doesn’t mean his inquiries will
end. The industry trade group’s board of directors, after all, is
currently chaired by Brendan Whitworth, the CEO of Anheuser-Busch.

Bud Light has continued to grapple with its reputation in the year
since affiliating its brand with the transgender influencer. It is
reportedly using this year’s Super Bowl as an opportunity for a “brand
revival.”

Both of Mulvaney’s posts tagged with “#budlightpartner” remain
unaltered on Instagram.

--
Let's go Brandon!

[BTR1701]

In article <HZGcnSTdjfQS8lH4...@giganews.com>,

Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:

> It was one year ago, on February 11, 2023, that Dylan Mulvaney, the
> transgender-identifying social media influencer, posted a video of

> himself drinking Bud Light in a bathtub-- a paid promotion that

> permanently altered not only Bud Light's reputation, but now also the
> ad standards for the entire beer industry.
>
> While Bud Light dealt with the public outcry and a nationwide boycott
> over its partnership with Mulvaney, it fought a less high-profile legal

> battle over whether the promotion of beer by Mulvaney-- who often
> presents on social media as an entertainer for kids-- was compliant

> with industry standards that ban marketing alcohol to minors.
>
> U.S. Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), both members
> of the Commerce Committee, wrote a letter on May 17, 2023, that sparked
> a formal review by the beer industry's self-regulating body, the Beer
> Institute, into whether Bud Light was targeting minors through its ads
> with Mulvaney.
>

> The charge was reviewed by the Beer Institute's "Code Compliance Review

> Board", which in a July decision found that Bud Light did not violate
> its Advertising and Marketing Code, but just two months later that code
> was quietly revised-- the Advertising and Marketing Code that beer

> companies are required to adhere to now includes new language on social
> media influencers that would appear to forbid any brewer from working
> with Mulvaney.

> Anheuser-Busch did not respond to a request for comment on the Mulvaney
> posts, and whether it has reviewed them since the updated standards
> were released. Mulvaney also did not respond to inquiries.
>
> The Beer Institute declined to comment on whether any action has been
> taken regarding Mulvaney's posts since the standards were updated, and
> whether any action is required.

> Both of Mulvaney's posts tagged with #budlightpartner remain
> unaltered on Instagram.

The subject line is misleading when it says "Trans influencer could have
to delete Bud Light posts that blatantly violate new beer industry
guidelines".

Mulvaney is under no obligation to do anything. She/he/it is not a
member of the Beer Institute and has no obligation, legal or otherwise
to follow its rules, especially considering she/he/it's posts didn't
violate the rules when they were posted. Mulvaney is no longer in
privity of contract with Bud Light and is under no obligation to conform
to the new rules that were changed *after* she/he/it's posts were
uploaded.