Bud Light slammed for reportedly sponsoring an 'all ages drag show' trends now
An 'all ages drag show' slated for next week appeared to take a shot at Bud Light by touting the brand as one of its sponsors - before backtracking the next day as publications started to report on the supposed partnership.
Organized by Flagstaff Pride, the June 17 event is still set to be held in small-town Arizona next Saturday - but contrary to signage posted to social media, will not be funded by the embattled beermaker.
That revelation came Wednesday, less than 24 hours after the 27-year-old LGBTQ group posted promotions that erroneously billed Bud Light as a sponsor, spurring reports from publications such as The Washington Free Beacon.
Organizers at that point, however, released an amended poster - this one without the 'presented by Bud Light' tagline. It also included vague explanation as to why they included the company as a sponsor in the first place.
The event, meanwhile, features several drag performers with scantily themed social media accounts, and is still open to 'all ages' - but asks attendees under the age of 16 to bring a guardian. The debacle looked to be a lampoon on the backlash seen since the firms' disastrous flameout with Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender influencer.
BEFORE/AFTER: Flagstaff Pride on Tuesday released signage, seen on the right, touting Bud Light as the sponsor for the drag event in small-town Arizona next Saturday. As the partnership started to draw news coverage, the organization backtracked and released the poster on the right, as well as post that claimed the initial sign to be a 'mistake'
As the propspective partneship drew news coverage, the 27-year-old grou[ released an amended poster - this one without the 'presented by Bud Light' tagline. It also included vague explanation as to why they included the company as a sponsor in the first place
The debacle looked to be a lampoon on the backlash seen since the disastrous partnership with Dylan Mulvaney
'We put out an incorrect promotional poster which included Bud Light as a sponsor,' a post to Flagstaff Pride's Facebook read Wednesday evening, as Modelo Especial dethroned Bud Light as the top-selling beer in America after 22 years.
'Attached is the correct poster,' the org added, attaching a near identical sign - sporting several men in drag - without the Bud Light callout.
A spokesperson for Bud Light parent Anheuser-Busch - which also owns Modelo - further confirmed to DailyMail.com that the partnership was not on the level, writing that 'Bud Light was mistakenly listed as a sponsor.'
The rep confirmed, 'Bud Light is not a sponsor of this event' - while pointing to the new, 'corrected' version of the poster.
AS both parties classified the change as a 'correction',
