Brands love to insert themselves the online buzz that surrounds current events. This is the Era of Real-Time Marketing, after all! But sometimes, these efforts come across like a weird stranger interrupting a serious conversation.
Bud Light is the latest brand to stick its nose in a serious issue in a way that doesn’t feel quite right. The beer brand glommed on the recent trend of people changing their profile pictures to a red background with an equal sign to show support for gay marriage. It’s a light, easy way for people to weigh in as the Supreme Court goes into its second day of arguments over same sex marriage rights.
Bud Light, in is meant to be a show of support, tweeted and posted on Facebook an image of an equal sign made up of Bud Light cans. While it is nice to see a brand take an actual stand on a divisive issue, slapping its product front and center of the message kind of leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
It’s definitely a very fine line that brands have to walk when it comes to chiming in about important issues that don’t have to do with the brand or its products. For example, Absolut, which has always been a brand that supports gay rights, added its two cents by sharing an image of an Absolute bottle covered up in a red blanket with the words “Absolut Support” below it. Having the logo on the bottle covered makes it feel more genuinely about the cause than the brand. Oreo created a post about gay pride last year that went viral.
Do you find this brand response to be offensive or a positive show of support?
Not sure what to make of this from Budweiser twitter.com/jaredbkeller/s…
Ad rendering preventing in staging
Ad position: web_incontent_pos1— Jared Keller (@jaredbkeller) March 27, 2013
(via @jaredbkeller)
Note: Article previously stated that Bud Light had tweeted the image and removed it, but this has been corrected. Bud Light only posted the image to its Facebook page, not Twitter.
More in Marketing
In the marketing world, anime is following in the footsteps of gaming
As marketers look to take advantage of anime’s entry into the zeitgeist, they might be wise to observe the parallels between the evolution of anime as a marketing channel and the ways brands have learned to better leverage gaming in recent years.
With the introduction of video ads and e-commerce, Roblox looks to attain platform status
Roblox is expanding into more areas than just ads in 2024. Much like platforms such as Amazon and Facebook have transcended their origins to evolve from their origins as online marketplaces and social media channels, Roblox is in the midst of a transformation into a platform for all elements of users’ virtual lives.
PepsiCo wants to remain a ‘driver of culture’ as it turns to influencers and activations amid rebrand
The soda-maker says it can translate cultural relevance into sales volume.
Ad position: web_bfu