Most businesses want to avoid politics.
When you pick a side in a conflict, you risk scaring away people who agree with the other side. The challenge, and it's a big one, is that we live in a world where even benign things are taken as political slights.
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Starbucks (SBUX) -) knows this as well as any company. When it makes its holiday cups red or has workers say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas," it's not slighting Christians. It's trying to be welcoming to everyone.
Right-wing activists, many of whom get up in arms over this issue every year, likely understand this. But still, a company that wants to be inclusive has been labeled "woke."
Walt Disney (DIS) -) has felt this pain, too, as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has repeatedly accused it of sexualizing children, with no evidence to back up his claims.
Disney rarely shows a moment more sexual than the chaste kisses between Han Solo and Princess Leia, but it does depict worlds that have gay people in them.
And while both DIS and SBUX have taken public stands on issues like climate change and supporting the LGBTQ+ community, Starbucks mostly wants to sell coffee and Disney wants to sell entertainment and theme-park tickets.
Some personal brands, however, make their living by being heavily partisan. Kid Rock, who started the Bud Light boycotts by calling out the Anheuser-Busch (BUD) -) brand for partnering with the transgender social-media influencer Dylan Mulvaney, has courted a right-wing pro-Donald-Trump audience.
His business has become being anti-woke, and a number of country stars who have spoken out about Bud Light's partnership with Mulvaney have followed the same model.
Travis Tritt and John Rich of country duo Big & Rich plus a handful of other musicians who lean right have made a point of banning Bud Light from their bars, dressing rooms and concerts.
Only a few performers have come out to support Bud Light because there's no upside in telling some of your potential audience members that you disagree with them. Garth Brooks has been open about selling all beer brands and welcoming LGBTQ+ people into his Nashville bar.
Brooks, however, has perhaps an unlikely ally in his message of tolerance and acceptance.
Image source: Drew Angerer/Getty
Post Malone supports Bud Light
While it has changed somewhat in recent years, the rap world has not always been welcoming to LGBTQ+ performers or audience members.
That's not absolute. as Lil Nas X has become a huge star after first calling himself gay and then, in a tweet earlier this year, "a little bisexual."
Rapper Post Malone, however, has taken a stand that's a lot like Brooks when it comes to Bud Light, a brand he has endorsed.
"There is no comfort in this world so I’m gonna do the small things that make me comfortable. I’m gonna drink the f**ing beer,” he told Esquire.
Malone, who was drinking Bud Light steadily during the interview, seemed, in his own way, to be making a statement favoring not just a beer he has been paid to endorse but the idea of having fun.
It was very similar to the sentiment Brooks made clear earlier this year.
"Our thing is this: If you are let into this house, love one another. If you’re an a**, there are plenty of other places on lower Broadway,” the singer said of his upcoming Nashville bar.
Malone and Joe Rogan drank Bud Light on air
Malone also drank Bud Light with Joe Rogan on an August "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast.
“Give me one of them Bud Lights, f**k it. Let’s go. We’ve been drinking Bud Lights consistently on this show. I’m sure the comments are fire with those folks who like to get riled up about stupid sh**,” Rogan said at the time.
The podcast host has made clear that he believes Anheuser-Busch made a mistake in working with Mulvaney but the boycott takes things too far.
"Forget about everyone’s outrage. Settle down everybody. Relax. They f**ked up. Let them off the hook. They f**ked up. It’s one thing. It’s not even that big of a deal, but when Kid Rock shoots your f**king beer, it’s game over,” Rogan added.
