Bud Light has committed PR suicide.
Monday night, an image of Bud Light’s newest label was posted on Reddit. It reads, “The perfect beer for removing ‘no’ from your vocabulary for the night.” Shortly after, it began making its way through social media and it’s clear people aren’t too happy about it. The biggest argument against the label? It’s promoting rape culture.
his isn’t the first time Bud Light has faced media scrutiny for blurring the lines between consent and alcohol. Alongside a picture of a St. Patty’s Day-themed women (of course), the company tweeted, “On #StPatricksDay you can pinch people who don’t wear green. You can also pinch people who aren’t “#UpForWhatever.”
They really tweeted that.
I’m a college student – and a student at a school that has been called one of the top party colleges in the nation – so I’ve had my fair share of experiences with drunk people. To me, “#UpForAnything” sounds just like the type of thing a person, after a night of drinking, would see on the label and shout right before making a stupid decision.
As if they didn’t realize that #UpForAnything was an all-around terrible idea for a campaign, (it’s in its second year), claiming that their beer can turn a “no” into a “yes” isn’t really helping their image.
As a society, we know that we tend to avoid saying “no” to things we would normally avoid at all costs when we’re under the influence of alcohol. For example, getting pizza at 2 a.m. Or dancing on a table at the bar. Or having sex with somebody that we normally wouldn’t want to.
Let’s review the laws again. “When intoxicated, an individual cannot legally consent to sexual activity. Forcing sex on someone who is too drunk to give consent is still Criminal Sexual Conduct in the Third Degree. Rape is a serious offense, and people who commit crimes while under the influence of alcohol or drugs are not considered free from guilt.”
In other words, when under the influence of alcohol, “YES” is removed from our vocabulary. So, Bud Light, you got it completely opposite!
I can practically already see a woman clearly shaking her head at a man at the bar and him replying, “you can’t say ‘no’ to me, you’re drinking Bud, ‘no’ is not in your vocabulary.”They’ll probably say they mean it as a joke, and although Bud Light issued a public statement and agreed to cease production of the ads, the word has spread. The damage is already done.
According to the Code of Responsible Practices, “An alcohol advertisement would be against the law…if it promoted driving under the influence or underage drinking.” But hey, if “no” isn’t in your vocabulary, you can’t say no if someone asks you to drive intoxicated, right?
Alcohol companies are encouraged to put “please drink responsibly” at the end of their ads, and Bud Light’s new labels blatantly contradict that. We already know that alcohol can lead us to remove “no” from our vocabulary, and it’s already a huge problem. So Bud Light, the least you could have done was refrain from promoting it.
Featured image via “Bud Light 2012” by roger4336 / CC BY-SA 2.0
