Transgender TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney infuriated beer drinkers around America on Saturday after posting about an alleged partnership with Bud Light.
Mulvaney, who has amassed over 10 million followers on TikTok and 1.7 million on Instagram by documenting his transition from male to female, dropped a video on Instagram that showed the influencer sipping from the famous blue can while wearing a black cocktail dress and matching elbow-length opera gloves, à la Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Toward the end of the video, Mulvaney reveals that Bud Light sent him a custom can with his likeness printed on the side and a congratulations for spending an entire year as a girl.
Mulvaney’s viral “365 Days of Girlhood” series culminated in major brand endorsements, daytime talk show appearances and an original Broadway show.
“Happy March Madness!! Just found out this had to do with sports and not just saying it’s a crazy month! In celebration of this sports thing @budlight is giving you the chance to win $15,000!” Mulvaney wrote in the caption.
Mulvaney also included the hashtag #BudLightPartner.
Social media users immediately speculated that the seeming endorsement must be an April Fool’s prank. After all, a source close to the brand tells Cockburn that Anheuser-Busch InBev is notoriously strict about who they bring on as brand partners. There have also been no official announcements from Bud Light about the alleged partnership with Mulvaney, such as when the brand revealed they were teaming up with Miles Teller and his wife for a Super Bowl commercial.
However, April 1 is not the first time Mulvaney has made reference to a partnership with the classic domestic beer. On February 11, Mulvaney posted a remix of the Teller family’s Super Bowl commercial. In this version, Mulvaney was drinking Bud Light and dancing in a sudsy bath tub. Again, the Instagram caption featured #BudLightPartner.
Further evidence this is real? Mulvaney posted a pointed Instagram story with the note that he tries to “steer clear from April fools content.”
So, maybe not a prank. Still, could Mulvaney perhaps be over-inflating a low-level Instagram ad buy with a full-blown partnership? Either way, Cockburn has reached out to Anheuser-Busch for clarification.
