Bud Light & Starbucks | If firms decide to align with a social issue, their support must be unwavering

Increasingly, businesses are aligning themselves with movements they believe are important.

For some, it’s a genuine act of care and support for an issue they want to highlight, whereas for others, it can be a cunning marketing ploy to ethics-wash their company in hopes it will attract customers or clients.

As more brands align themselves with a social issue, more stories come out of firms changing their stance if it’s received negatively by its audience. Notably, Anheuser-Busch, the company that owns Budweiser and Bud Light, raised eyebrows when they partnered with Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender TikTok influencer, to promote the brand, but later reneged its alignment with the trans community upon receiving negative backlash from a segment of its customer-base.

In a similar vein, Starbucks has recently come under scrutiny following allegations that the coffee conglomerate banned Pride month decorations in two dozen American states. As a result, a petition was posted online against the brand.