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Culture War Roundup for the week of May 15, 2023

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Culture war refresh. Many people are familiar with the Bud Light and Dylan Mulvaney controversy. About a week afterwards people on this website noted there wasn’t a large impact on the stock price of InBev, Bud’s parent company,

Well, InBev is now down about 10% from when the whole Bud Light - Dylan Mulvaney sponsorship. Bud light revenue is still down materially. At the same time, other major alcohol companies appear flat or up materially. Therefore, it seems the boycott has had real negative impact on InBev.

Does this mark the start of the right finding it’s muscle or is this a dead cat bounce?

I think it's neither. Bud Light was a special case where significant percentage of consumers were in the anti-audience for the message, and the alternatives were readily available. For most products, either the first (like the movies, for example) or the second (like the sports - you can't just switch to another NBA on the next shelf really) is not true. So, it kinda was a perfect situation for a successful strike, but this kind of situation wouldn't present itself too often, and so far most of other woke megacorps are as woke as ever. So it's a tactical win in a skirmish with favorable conditions, which says little about the outcome of the war. It's surely nice to get a win once in a while, but don't order the champagne just yet.

It's surely nice to get a win once in a while, but don't order the champagne just yet.

It is important precedent, remember that very idea of right wing boycott was seen as joke, and rightly so.

Now it is important to do not give up, do not be bought and appeased by patriotic veteran beer, it is important to continue until Anheuser-Busch is driven to bankruptcy.

It is not about some shitty beer, it is about making an example and sending a message.

it is important to continue until Anheuser-Busch is driven to bankruptcy.

I would say it's probably more important to have realistic goals.

The history of Progressivism argues otherwise. Moderate goals are for moderate people. Extremists make history.

Extremists die in ditches. The strong, the canny and the lucky make history.

The number of extremists that have achieved success and changed the world are far outnumbered by those that achieve nothing and usually end up lining the inside of a mass grave. The Paris Commune did not fail due to a lack of extreme beliefs, it failed because extremists are by their very nature terrible at making the kind of compromises you need to make in order to advance your goals.

Extremists die in ditches.

Or, in this case, face a dearth of choices when it comes to mass-market beer in non-metro areas?