Videos Appear to Show Nearly Empty Budweiser Tents at Motorcycle Rally

Photos and videos posted to social media of Budweiser's beer garage at this year's Sturgis motorcycle rally in South Dakota appear to show no attendees consuming the product.

Anheuser-Busch InBev owns Budweiser and Bud Light, which gained national attention this past spring when transgender influencer and activist Dylan Mulvaney partnered with the beer brand as part of an ad campaign to celebrate her one year anniversary of transitioning into a woman. The partnership then led to passionate boycotts mostly among conservatives who felt the beer did not cater to its traditional consumer base.

Budweiser and its local distributor, Quality Brands of the Black Hills, are the official malt beverage sponsor of the Sturgis motorcycle rally. Quality Brands of the Black Hills has been affiliated with the rally for over 50 years. As part of their sponsorship, the pair have been offering custom Sturgis and Budweiser signage in addition to mutual donations to local charities that raise money for the Black Hills area.

A spokesperson for the Sturgis motorcycle rally told Newsweek via email on Friday that they could not comment without permission from the Sturgis mayor and city council, who oversee the event.

The row over transgender brand ambassadors is symbolic of a wider debate about the inclusion of transgender women in female issues and spaces. Some say transgender women should be treated the same as other women, while others say they are different and that hard-won women's rights must be protected.

Videos circulating on social media platforms including X, formerly known as Twitter, TikTok and Facebook have shown basically no Sturgis attendees patronizing the Budweiser area since the 10-day rally began on August 4.

One video posted to TikTok by user @cycledrag, and later posted to YouTube, shows him traversing the garage area mid-week.

"We're hoping business picks up a little bit but guys, midweek oh my goodness, wow," said the poster as he pans back-and-forth between empty tables and workers standing with little to do.

He then asked one worker wearing a Budweiser T-shirt if they have experienced any uptick in business. The worker responded with a quick smile and nod, but didn't say anything.

"Take a look, Sturgis is absolutely jam packed," said the man who recorded the footage. "The Harley tent is packed, the BMW tent is packed, but Budweiser [is] having a tough go. There must be a whole lot of beer left over in there. I don't know what to say."

Another video taken by @cycledrag was also posted to X on Wednesday, showing different angles of the Budweiser area that remained empty on a different day.

Bud Light's sales have been decimated since Mulvaney advertised a customized beer can that had her face on it that was provided to her by the brand brand, plunging 28 percent while volume—or the number of units of beer sold—had decreased 31.2 percent in the same four-week period ending July 1, according to NielsenIQ sales data obtained by Newsweek via industry consultancy firm Bump Williams Consulting. That decrease in volume is compared to Bud Light sales in the same period in June 2022.

"Never thought I'd see this," Facebook user Bryan McColl posted on Thursday alongside a photo of the near-empty area in the Sturgis rally Facebook group. "Budweiser exhibit empty all week."

"Nobody went to that tent as many days as I was there," McColl told Newsweek via social media. "Never saw a Bud Light can in anyone's hand, even at the campground....I went by that tent four days in a row, nobody was there. Just the guy or two at the front desk as a greeter. He even said it sucked."

The post was reacted to and shared thousands of times, with a mix of opinions among the 960-plus comments.

"Serves them right," said one comment. "You don't go against the majority, to appease the 2%."

"Shame that the only people hurt by this are the blue collar men and women who work at the can plants, the breweries, the family owned distributors etc," another user wrote.

Newsweek reached out to McColl via Facebook for further comment.

Meanwhile, X users also mocked Budweiser in various posts.

"Anheuser-Busch set up a Bud Light concession, and NOT ONE CUSTOMER I think the only ones who like Bud Light these days are members of the LGBTQ+ community," one user wrote.

Another user posted: "How embarrassing would it be to be seen at the Bud booth?"

Newsweek also reached out via email to Anheuser-Busch and Quality Brands of the Black Hills for comment.

Update 8/14/23, 3:58 p.m. ET: This story was updated with comment from Bryan McColl.