Yuengling Earns Praise for Backing Age Restrictions for Drag Shows
Yuengling is earning plaudits for showing Bud Light how to deal with a controversy concerning radical LGBT activism, drag shows and children.
The Pottsville, Pennsylvania, company, billed as “America’s Oldest Brewery,” suddenly found itself mired in controversy this month when social media posts began questioning why the brand was sponsoring a June 30 drag show that organizers said would allow “babies in arm” to be admitted. The drag show organizers also claimed the event would be a “family-friendly” show.
The spectacle was scheduled as part of Musikfest, an annual festival held in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and one that the brewery has sponsored in part before.
According to the ticket info page, the “Draggin’ with the Divas” show is “a drag show featuring music performed by some of our favorite Queens covering Queens. Hosted by Elektra Fearce St. James.”
“Need Your drag fix before our iconic Musikfest Drag Show? Well, the queens return to Musikfest Cafe pres. by Yuengling June 30th,” the ad said. (You can see a cached version of a description of the show here.)
The June 19 Facebook post about the show had Yuengling — an independent brewer known more for patriotism than “pride” — listed as a sponsor. But three days later, the event description was edited to have the beer company’s name removed from the listing, according to OutKick.
The edit was not just a face-saving move by the beer company, either, evidently.
As it happens, Yuengling had nothing whatsoever to do with the drag show — “family-friendly” or not. It appears the drag show organizers just stuck the brewery’s name in their ad because Yuengling is one of the many sponsors of the overall music fest, even though the beer company had no part in the drag show.
To its credit, Yuengling did not just sit back, cross its fingers and hope the drag story went away. Unlike Bud Light, the company quickly acted to set the record straight.
“Yuengling has been a supporter of ArtsQuest for many years, along with over 300 local community supporters,” it said in a June 16 statement shared on Twitter. “We’re proud to be part of their efforts to revitalize an industrial neighborhood in Bethlehem, PA. Through our ArtsQuest sponsorship, we have naming rights to the ‘Musikfest Café Presented By Yuengling’ venue. ArtsQuest independently plans the events and policies that take place at this venue, and all of their other performance areas.”
“Yuengling actively promotes responsible drinking for patrons 21 years of age and older. We are working to align with ArtQuest regarding appropriate age restrictions for venues associated with our sponsorship. We support their decision to restrict attendance to 18+ for the June 30th show.”
— Yuengling Brewery (@yuenglingbeer) June 16, 2023
ArtsQuest also pointed out that the beer brand had nothing to do with the drag show.
In an email to the Lehigh Valley News on June 19, festival organizers said, “Yuengling is a longtime supporter of ArtsQuest. Like all of our 300 sponsors, Yuengling does not have any involvement in the acts or content that are booked for our venues.
“Our sponsors are also not involved in the admission policies for our venues, which vary by event and facility. This includes the ‘Draggin’ With The Divas’ show planned at the venue in question.”
The beer company was rewarded on Twitter over its actions, and social media users blasted the drag show for misleading people.
Excellent Yuengling rocks https://t.co/Ll6PwbQDLb
— Tim Pool (@Timcast) June 16, 2023
This is a garbage story. Yuengling has sponsored the event called Musikfest broadly since 1984. These freaks intentionally appropriated the association. Don’t do this to good people. We have enough to fight without making it up. @Timcast https://t.co/XuYgY9NRyk
— Chris Stigall (@ChrisStigall) June 16, 2023
Good job Yuengling, keep drag shows as ADULT entertainment! If I could get your beer here in California I would buy it! Thank you for setting a great example for our country pic.twitter.com/v510xJpkdI
— J (@7freespeech) June 19, 2023
Whatever you think of drag shows, they are certainly not “family-friendly” events, and they never, ever should be open for anyone who is not an adult. By its very nature, a drag show is a sexual escapade. It is not mere entertainment.
So, congratulations to Yuengling for working very quickly to head off its own Bud Light situation, dealing with it quickly and putting out a firm statement telling customers where the company stands without being divisive in the doing.
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