Kirk Cameron Calls Out Bud Light, Then Gives Brand a Lesson in Anti-Woke Advertising
Bud Light and Brave Books are two brands that are, in many ways, polar opposites.
Bud Light was, until recently, the number-one selling beer in America. Brave Books is a small company that publishes “[f]aith based children’s books that teach traditional values,” according to its website.
Bud Light’s most prominent spokesman these days is transgender “influencer” Dylan Mulvaney. Brave Books’ is “Growing Pains” star and Christian activist Kirk Cameron.
Bud Light’s fortunes are still on their way down. That’s because of Mulvaney. That’s why Cameron is offering them some free advice in a viral advertisement released Wednesday: “Read the room.”
Cameron, who’s been touring public libraries behind his Brave-published book “Pride Comes Before the Fall” as a kind of counter-programming to Drag Queen Story Hour, told Fox Business Thursday that he specifically targeted Bud Light for neglecting the values of its core consumers.
“‘Growing Pains’ and the gospel taught me to never betray your audience,” Cameron said.
“Mine are my family, my country and God.”
Those are the audiences many of Bud Light’s drinkers entertained. So, to have wokeness shoved down their throats with the Mulvaney campaign — followed by the revelation that it had been spearheaded by a VP of marketing who told a podcast shortly before the campaign’s launch that Bud Light’s previous advertising had been “fratty” and she wanted “inclusivity” — was a big turn-off.
The beer’s sales are off by more than a quarter and Bud Light lost its position as America’s top-selling beer to Modelo Especial in the four-week period ending May 28, according to sales data obtained by Newsweek.
Well, if pride cometh before the fall, I suppose viral advertising opportunities cometh afterwards — and Cameron and Brave Books were more than willing to jump at the opportunity.
Big mistake. You forgot to read the room. This one’s on me, Bud. 😉 @budlight
Wake up the woke! Tag the companies you miss the most.@thenorthface @Ford @Nike pic.twitter.com/QYiV6f0MKZ
— Kirk Cameron (@KirkCameron) June 7, 2023
“Hey, Bud Light — I know what happened,” Cameron says in the video, standing in front of a fire-pit and an American flag.
“It’s a rookie mistake: You forgot to read the room. Here’s how you make a commercial that connects with your audience.”
Cameron then went on to speak to the moms and dads who love their children, God and America — all while watching brands who prefer wokeness and genuflecting to the pride-month mob. (In addition to Bud Light, two other recent offenders — Target and Ford — were also featured.)
“Don’t get angry,” Cameron’s urged in his narration. “Invest your time, energy and money into the people that are building the country you want for your kids and standing for the values that will lead to their blessing and protection.”
Brave Books, as Cameron noted, is one of those companies, “on a mission to create content for kids that is safe for them to enjoy.”
And yes, that also comes at a cost. As Fox Business noted, some of Cameron’s reading events at public libraries have drawn a smattering of protesters. One of the wittier signs on a recent visit to Seattle: “You are growing to be a real pain — you know that.”
“One nostalgic protester — protesting a book about humility? — lugged a huge sandwich board that said that I was ‘growing to be a real pain,’” Cameron told Fox Business. “Nicely played, sir!”
However, the most important part was that even in deep-blue Seattle, Fox reported, the anti-Cameron protesters “were largely overwhelmed by the many supportive parents, children and families who came out to see him and hear him.”
“In the city most famous for coffee and grunge music, we were awakened with a joyful song of gratitude from hundreds of parents and kids at the Seattle Public Library,” Cameron said of the event.
And the message he’s peddling isn’t exactly a soft one, either — but it’s one both kids and parents (and brands) need to hear: “With a nation that is so saturated with the idea that pride is a good thing, the Bible warns us that pride is the deadliest of the seven deadly sins. Before greed, gluttony, sloth, wrath, envy and lust – is pride,” he said.
And in June, companies have a whole lot of opportunities to become object lessons for that, just like Bud Light and Target did. Let’s hope they take a page — pardon the pun — from Brave Books and avoid the fall.
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