I'll Have a Bud Light

Not really. I no longer drink beer, my lifetime punch-card having been completed by my quarter-century mark, due to maximum (legal, mind you, no fake id for me*) usage in high school, college, and early “adulthood” (which, as Carolyn will attest, is perhaps debatable). And it doesn’t matter if Bud Light actually qualifies as a good beer, or beer at all as some people whose judgment I trust in this area have opined. In any case, that rambling preamble is to make clear that I have no pony in this race, either beer-wise or financially (do not own AB/InBev stock).

However, lately I’ve been in places where beer is clearly the default beverage (at least for those who imbibe,. and I’m tempted to order a Bud Light (which I wouldn’t drink), just to make a point that the I’m not offended by a well-intended but strategically inept marketing decision. (N.b., That “offensive” can was never meant to be offered for sale to the public. Again, according to those I assume have some expertise, the can wasn’t nearly as offensive as what was contained therein.)

What I’ve noticed, however, is that even had I WANTED to drink Bud Light, it is seemingly unavailable, nor (perversely) could I even make some kind of boycott statement, because a skittish bar/restaurant owner/manager has decided not to offer the product rather than risk offending some customer(s). I don’t blame them for that decision; it probably isn’t worth the hassle when there are so many other options that have yet to offend patrons, any more than it’s worth it to me to order it to try to make a point.

If you’ve decided to be offended by the Bud Light trans-supportive campaign and not buy that product at the store, fine by me. I.Don’t.Care. But your boycott has, either inadvertently or, more likely, advertently,  removed MY freedom of choice in a bar/restaurant, making me an unwitting and perhaps unwilling supporter of your manufactured outrage (because, really, what possible difference could this can have made to you personally?). Kind of mutes the whole “freedom” argument, n’est-ce pas? 

And thus my objection, because the culture warriors claim to want freedom, but only if that freedom aligns with THEIR cultural values. Mine are not only less important, but UNIMPORTANT. That dismissive attitude is what I find most objectionable. Not sure what I can boycott to express myself, though.

* Not exactly true, because in Belgium, where I went to high school, you were old enough to drink beer/wine if you could hold the glass; but you DID need to be 18 to see certain movies (e.g., The Prize with Paul Newman & my first celebrity crush, Elke Somer) or go to a club to dance (Beer good, dancing bad; I DO get that the combination can be dangerous under certain circumstances, although if you’ve ever seen me dance, well whatever aphrodisiac qualities might be associated with the activity….). In any case, I did have a crudely forged ID from an altered temporary visa that somehow passed muster with those who recognized the absurdity of the rule in that Catholic country.