Jordan Peterson Weighs in on Bud Light Drama After Falling for Satire Site

Jordan Peterson has weighed in on the ongoing furor surrounding Bud Light by commenting on a headline from a satirical website.

The beer brand has faced criticism and boycott calls from a host of conservative figures after it sent transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney a personalized can of its product. Mulvaney has also received a wave of support.

Earlier this month, Mulvaney shared a video on Instagram in which she explained that Bud Light had sent her a can with her face on it to commemorate 365 days of her living as a woman. Mulvaney's Days of Girlhood video series, which charts her first year of transitioning, has been a viral success.

The partnership has drawn condemnation from some social-media users, who issued calls for a boycott. Amid the backlash, musician Kid Rock shared footage of himself opening fire on a stack of Bud Light cans. Country music star Travis Tritt reacted by announcing that he would no longer sell Budweiser at his concerts.

Caitlyn Jenner transitioned to female in 2015. She recommended an alternative beer brand as she commented on a Twitter post from British influencer Oli London, who previously identified as transracial, gender neutral and transgender.

As some consumers publicly state their intention to boycott the beer company's products, Larry Elder shared a link on Twitter that included a story from satire website Dunning-Kruger-Times. It stated that Budweiser brands will not be allowed at Germany's annual Oktoberfest in Germany.

"Budweiser Brands Won't Be Welcome at Oktoberfest For The 1st Time in 75 Years," Elder, a radio host who recently announced his bid as a Republican presidential candidate for 2024, tweeted on Sunday.

In a tweet that has since been deleted, Canadian psychologist and media personality Peterson wrote in response: "Good riddance @budweiserusa."

While Peterson later removed the tweet from his feed, screenshots of it have been shared across social media. Peterson has faced derision for apparently not realizing that the source of the claim was the satirical Dunning-Kruger-Times website.

The "about us" page on the Dunning-Kruger-Times website states that the outlet is satirical. There is currently no information verifying that Budweiser brands were removed by Oktoberfest. Newsweek reached out to Elder via email for comment.

"Everything on this website is fiction. It is not a lie and it is not fake news because it is not real," the page states. "If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined. Any similarities between this site's pure fantasy and actual people, places, and events are purely coincidental and all images should be considered altered and satirical."

The Dunning-Kruger effect appears to have inspired the name of the website. This is a "cognitive bias" where people "with limited knowledge or competence in a given intellectual or social domain greatly overestimate their own knowledge or competence in that domain relative to objective criteria or to the performance of their peers or of people in general," the Encyclopedia Britannica states.

In internet parlance, the term is often used to refer to the overconfidence of individuals despite their low IQ levels.

Peterson has faced backlash for his views in the past. In July 2022, his Twitter account was suspended indefinitely after he refused to apologize for comments he made about trans actor Elliot Page. He was later reinstated when Elon Musk took over the social-media platform.

Last year, Don't Worry Darling director Olivia Wilde described Peterson as a "pseudo-intellectual hero to the incel community" in Interview magazine. "Incels," short for involuntary celibates, refers to an online subculture of men who express extreme resentment and hostility to women in their online discussion groups.

When asked about Wilde's comment during an interview with Piers Morgan in September, Peterson responded: "You know, people have been after me for a long time because I've been speaking to disaffected young men."