Bud Light, Target back Pride events after failing to walk back initial support

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A rock and a hard place, that’s pretty much where Bud Light and Target live.

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Despite calls to boycott the beer brand and retailer, both continue to sponsor events during Pride month.

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Target is a platinum sponsor of NYC Pride, which requires a $175,000 donation, according to Associated Press. And Bud Light’s parent Anheuser-Busch is a sponsor of Pride celebrations in Chicago, San Francisco, Charlotte and elsewhere.

But it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows from the beginning.

After losing billions over the last weeks due to poorly thought-out advertising and marketing campaigns, Anheuser-Busch tried to walk back their Pride involvement.

They were quickly called out by LGBTQ advocates, forcing the companies to go back to the drawing board to avoid even further negative publicity, according to the AP.

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Target has long marketed to the LGBTQ community, but its overt displays and outrageous items – specifically, the “tuck swimsuit” – was, for many, the last straw in this woke day and age.

The discount retailer ended up removing it and other items, much to the disappointment of LGBTQ supporters, and for what? It didn’t make a lick of difference to those still boycotting.

Meanwhile, Bud Light is still reeling from its partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney and the boycott has severely impacted not only Bud Light but Anheuser-Busch’s other brands as well.

That said, San Francisco Pride are standing by Bud Light but are already preparing for backlash from those who believe the brand should have done more to support Mulvaney.

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“There is some tension and we will be watching it,” Suzanne Ford, San Francisco Pride’s executive director, said. “But on a local level, they’ve been a very great supporter.”

Kohl’s, Lego and Southwest Airlines have also been feeling the heat for their LGBTQ-friendly marketing in recent days, while other big companies, including PepsiCo, Starbucks, General Motors and Jeep parent Stellantis, are sticking to their sponsorship agreements.

In Bud Light’s hometown of St. Louis, the beer brand will sponsor the main stage at Pride and provide the beer for the VIP tent, said Jordan Braxton, the director of diversity, inclusion and outreach for Pride St. Louis.

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