Anheuser-Busch Abruptly Ends Sponsorship of St. Louis PrideFest
The beer giant's financial withdrawal of its hometown Pride celebration prompts local gay bars to boycott its product.
Beer giant Anheuser-Busch has pulled yet another sponsorship of a Pride celebration in the United States, without providing a specific reason why.
The parent company of Bud Light and Budweiser has ended its financial support for the St. Louis PrideFest, the LGBTQ Pride event for the city where the beer company’s headquarters are located.
PrideFest is scheduled to take place on June 28 and 29.
Marty Zuniga, president of Pride St. Louis, which organizes the event, told St. Louis NBC affiliate KSDK that organizers were “blindsided” when Anheuser-Busch said it would no longer sponsor the event, as it has done for the past 30 years.
“It was just interesting that the longest partner of ours, for 30 years that they’ve been at the table with us, and a true ally, just decided to walk away after basically just saying that they just don’t see the value in it anymore,” Zuniga said. “They don’t see the value in the partnership, or they do not see the value in the community? It’s very hard to draw that line.”
Zuniga continued, “What really hits home for us is that this is one of the largest employers here in Saint Louis in our own backyard, and that’s what hurts us the most. They have also divested from other prides across the country. San Francisco, for one, off the top of my head.”
Indeed, Anheuser-Busch notified organizers of San Francisco Pride that it would no longer be financially supporting Pride festivities, citing financial difficulties.
But organizers of San Francisco’s celebration suspected that the company may have actually been motivated by the political climate- in particular, the ongoing backlash against LGBTQ visibility.
Anheuser-Busch and its subsidiaries, particularly Bud Light, previously sought to distance themselves from the LGBTQ community after being targeted by a right-wing boycott that led to a drastic decline in sales and the loss of its designation as the top-selling beer in the United States.
The right-wing boycott was spurred in response to a social media promotion where the company partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
Zuniga said Anheuser-Busch claimed not to see any benefit in continuing to support PrideFest. However, specifics about why they no longer saw the partnership as beneficial remain scant — only further fueling speculation that the decision is politically-motivated rather than financial.
“For them to walk away from the table in negotiations, simply to note that, ‘We just don’t see the value in it anymore,’ it’s like a bad breakup,” Zuniga said.
He told St. Louis Public Radio that other corporate sponsors are also pulling back their financial support.
PrideFest now finds itself with a $150,000 shortfall compared to last year. To make up the difference, Pride St. Louis has launched a grassroots fundraising campaign. (You can support them here.)
In response to Anheuser-Busch’s abandonment of PrideFest, several St. Louis area gay bars will no longer sell the company’s various beverage products, including Greenfinch Theater and Dive, Rehab Bar and Grill, Platypus, the Improv Shop, and Bar: PM.
Kenny Marks, the owner of Kenny’s Upstairs on South Grand, told St. Louis Public Radio that the beer giant’s actions weren’t surprising considering how they reacted to the Mulvaney backlash.
“They’re giving in to louder voices who speak loudly about homophobia and thinking that is going to affect their bottom line,” said Marks, who is transgender. “When it was like cool and trendy to be in the political environment — to be supportive — they had no problem, but the moment it turns…. It just shows that it wasn’t even about the queer community to begin with.”
Kenny’s Upstairs plans to stop carrying Anheuser-Busch products.
“Boycotting is the root of change,” Marks said. “You might have to be that person who stops buying it, too, and it is going to make a dent.”
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