News

Aug 02, 2023

Video of Bud Light Being Sold as 'Mystery Lager' Goes Viral

A video purporting to show a Bud Light beer tap being exchanged with an unbranded one so it can be sold as a "mystery lager" has gone viral on Twitter, prompting varied responses from users and the

A video purporting to show a Bud Light beer tap being exchanged with an unbranded one so it can be sold as a "mystery lager" has gone viral on Twitter, prompting varied responses from users and the bar's owner to tell Newsweek they found the whole thing "hysterical".

The clip, uploaded to the social media network on Monday, which, as of 10 a.m. ET on Tuesday, has been viewed 3.5 million times, shows a hand unscrewing the Bud Light tap and replacing it with another shaped like a light bulb with a question mark on it.

It comes after the beer brand faced a sustained backlash and calls for a boycott over a partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney that led to consistently lower sales since early April—when the controversy began—compared to the same time last year.

Bud Light's parent company, Anheuser-Busch, was accused of alienating its traditional customer base after it sent a commemorative can to Mulvaney to celebrate her first year of transitioning to a woman, while some in the LGBTQ+ community—including Mulvaney—have since slammed the company for not defending the partnership.

The controversy speaks to a broader, culture-war debate about the inclusion of transgender individuals in public life.

"Since none of these weirdo boomers [want to] buy Bud Light anymore this how [I'm going to] start selling it, I call it our mystery lager," the original poster, who hails from Boston, Massachusetts, wrote.

Since none of these weirdo boomers wanna buy bud light anymore this how ima start selling it, I call it our mystery lager pic.twitter.com/pib9LYmZlO

Many of the social media users responding to the clip expressed outrage. One tweeted: "You are a living example of how well propaganda and manipulated vital marketing work."

"Liberal insinuates that he intends to sell branded beer without disclosing the brand, thus potentially committing a crime," another said. "All to own 'boomers' [laugh out loud]."

However, others responded positively to the post, apparently seeing the funny side of the subterfuge. "As someone who will never buy bud light again, that's actually a pretty genius marketing tactic," one Twitter user responded.

Yet, the video was a stunt and the "mystery lager" was not being used to dupe unwitting patrons of a Boston bar. After the video went viral, the user who had first posted it wrote: "The outrage I have caused by replacing a beer tap for 5 seconds for a video has fueled me to live for eternity."

They confirmed to Newsweek when approached for comment that it was "clearly a joke," adding: "If you look at any tweet on my profile you can see nothing I've ever tweeted has been serious, I just post things to try to make people laugh. All the old people fell for the bait and it's hysterical watching them lose their minds."

There are other instances in which bars have chosen to stop stocking Bud Light since the controversy began. A video posted on July 27, which has since been viewed nine million times, shows a bar in New York replacing its Bud Light tap with a Miller Lite tap, while other licensed venues have withdrawn the beer from sale entirely.

Bud Light's competitors, including Coors Light and Miller Lite, have seemingly absorbed the demand from boycotters—despite the latter facing its own calls for a boycott over a supposedly "woke" advertising campaign. In May, Modelo Especial overtook it as America's top-selling beer.