Speaker A
When a celebrity and a brand come together to make a bold statement, it's bound to end in disaster. And one thing you can almost always count on is the brand folding to the pressure the second Twitter gets angry. Well, besides
A deep dive into the most controversial celebrity marketing stunts, including Bud Light's Dylan Mulvaney campaign and Pepsi's Kendall Jenner ad.
Key Takeaways
- Celebrity endorsements can backfire spectacularly if they touch on sensitive social or political issues.
- Brands often struggle to balance between supporting progressive causes and retaining traditional customer bases.
- Corporate damage control statements tend to be vague and avoid directly addressing the controversy.
- Social media backlash can escalate quickly and lead to significant financial and reputational damage.
- Repeated marketing controversies show a lack of learning and adaptation in brand crisis management.
What the video covers
- The video explores celebrity-brand collaborations that sparked major public backlash and damaged brand reputations.
- Focuses on Bud Light's partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, which led to significant sales declines and political backlash.
- Details the conservative outrage, corporate damage control, and the resulting identity crisis for Bud Light.
- Highlights the failed attempts by Bud Light to recover through new celebrity endorsements.
- Analyzes the infamous Kendall Jenner Pepsi commercial that trivialized social justice protests and caused widespread outrage.
- Mentions other controversial campaigns such as American Eagle’s Sydney Sweeney denim ad and Calvin Klein’s Brook Shields ad.
- Discusses how brands often respond with vague or non-committal apologies that fail to satisfy either side.
- Shows the cyclical nature of PR disasters in marketing and the challenges brands face when engaging in political or social issues.
- Examines the impact of social media and political polarization on brand marketing strategies.
- Concludes that controversial marketing stunts can have long-lasting negative effects on brand image and sales.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction to Celebrity Marketing Disasters
- 01:38Bud Light and Dylan Mulvaney Backlash
- 03:24Political and Social Reactions to Bud Light Campaign
- 04:44Corporate Response and Damage Control
- 06:20Bud Light’s Attempts to Recover and Sales Impact
- 08:03Kendall Jenner Pepsi Ad Controversy
- 09:44Other Controversial Campaigns and Industry Patterns
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
American Eagle and Sydney Sweeney, they seem to be doubling down on their message despite the backlash from customers. In this video, we're breaking down disastrous celebrity marketing collaborations that caused outrage.
Speaker A
Starting with Bud Light and Dylan Mulvaney, which may have destroyed Bud Light sales forever. Transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney posted a sponsored Instagram video for Bud Light's easy carry contest, a $15,000 giveaway tied to March Madness sponsored by the beer brand. In it, Mulvaney poked
Speaker A
fun at her lack of sports knowledge but celebrated March Madness with a cold one. I kept hearing about this thing called March Madness, and I thought we were all just having a hectic month, but it turns out it has something to do with
Speaker A
sports, and I'm not sure exactly which sport, but either way, it's a cause to celebrate. Bud Light sent her a can with her face on it. It was a present that was gifted in celebration of her 365th day of girlhood, which was a series she
Speaker A
launched as a video diary of her transition. Each day detailing the ups, downs, and realities of transitioning to a female. Almost immediately, the sponsorship was met with backlash as consumers disagreed with Bud Light's decision to partner with someone in the
Speaker A
LGBTQ community. There also was an assumption that Bud Light was planning on mass-producing cans with Dylan on them, which was not true. It was just a one-off gift. Conservative celebrities and political figures expressed their outrage as they witnessed their favorite
Speaker A
beer brand go woke before their eyes. Kid Rock posted a video of himself wearing a MAGA hat and shooting at several cases of Bud Light with a submachine gun and concluding the message with F B Bud Light and F Anheuser
Speaker A
Bush. For critics, the outrage stemmed from the belief that Bud Light, a brand that was forever associated with traditional blue-collar American culture, was pandering to politics that they did not agree with. And honestly, the critics may have been right because just a few
Speaker A
days after the backlash, the company didn't exactly double down on their choice to work with Mulvaney. Anheuser Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth released a statement on the company's website writing about the importance of accountability and taking responsibility for ensuring every consumer feels proud.
Speaker A
We never intended to be a part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer. My time serving this country taught me the importance of accountability and the values upon which
Speaker A
America was founded: freedom, hard work, and respect for one another. This response is textbook corporate damage control. Notice how it never once mentions Dylan Mulvaney by name, never addresses transgender rights, and never clarifies whether the brand stands behind its original decision. Instead,
Speaker A
it leans on patriotism, heritage, and broad values like freedom and hard work, themes that are impossible to disagree with. It's written perfectly vague. By neither apologizing nor doubling down, Anheuser Busch essentially tried to sidestep the controversy while hoping
Speaker A
both sides would just read and interpret whatever they wanted from the statement. But the backlash didn't go away. It got worse. Senator Ted Cruz and Senator Marsha Blackburn demanded a formal investigation into Bud Light's parent company, AB InBev. They accused the
Speaker A
company of using Mulvaney to manipulate children. Lawmakers accused them of creating a faux prepubescent girl persona to intentionally appeal to young viewers.
Speaker A
The key to this allegation is Mulvaney's video diary series Days of Girlhood, seizing on the word girl to argue that Mulvaney is trying to appear underage herself; otherwise, she would use the word woman. Ultimately, the investigation was dismissed. And even
Speaker A
though Dylan caught a bunch of unnecessary hate because she was just simply hired to do a brand deal, she responded to all of this pretty positively.
Speaker A
I grew up in a conservative family, and I'm extremely privileged because they still love me very much. I grew up in the church, and I still have my faith, which I am really trying to hold on to
Speaker A
right now. But I've always tried to love everyone, you know, even the people that make it really, really hard. And I think it's okay to be frustrated with someone or confused. But what I'm struggling to understand is the need to dehumanize and
Speaker A
to be cruel. I was nervous that you were going to start believing those things that they were saying about me since it is so loud. But I'm just going to go ahead and trust that the people who know
Speaker A
me and my heart won't listen to that noise. But Bud Light's damage control was not working. So they made the terrible decision of making the CEO of Anheuser Busch go on morning television. But he refused to answer any questions clearly.
Speaker A
Given the moment we're in, this moment in America with trans issues at the top of a Republican social or conservative political agenda, knowing what you know now, if you could go back, would you send this can to this one
Speaker A
person again? There's a big social conversation taking place right now. And big brands are right in the middle of it. And it's not just our industry or Bud Light. It's happening in retail. It's happening in fast food. And so for us, what we need
Speaker A
to understand is deeply understand and appreciate is the consumer and what they want, what they care about, and what they expect from big brands.
Speaker A
Here we can see even more classic corporate soulless media training: look sympathetic, sound unifying without actually committing to anything. By refusing to either stand behind Dylan Mulvaney or back away from the campaign, Bud Light managed to piss off both
Speaker A
sides. Conservatives felt the brand had gone woke and was dodging accountability, while supporters of Mulvaney and the LGBTQ community saw the silence as cowardice, not doubling down on their decision to work with her in the first place. What started as a
Speaker A
single social media post spiraled into a full-blown identity crisis for America's best-selling beer. And because of this, Bud Light lost its title as the bestselling beer in the US, overtaken by rival Modelo. Its sales plummeted by 10% in spring of 2023 and up to a 29% decline
Speaker A
year-over-year by early 2024. Executives involved in the campaign took leaves of absence or stepped down from their positions. They tried to desperately bounce back by collaborating with comedian Shane Gillis and pop star Post Malone, two celebrities that don't
Speaker A
exactly identify as right-wing, but clearly Bud Light thinks they appeal to the target demographic that they felt they had lost. In other words, Bud Light was trying to course correct by platforming figures that were perceived as safe to conservatives. They were
Speaker A
signaling, "Hey, we're still your favorite beer." But it hasn't worked. As of 2025, Bud Light sales are still down 30% year-over-year. This shows how badly things can go when brands step into political territory, but it doesn't even compare to how disastrous the Kendall
Speaker A
Jenner Pepsi ad was. In April of 2017, Pepsi attempted to prove that its product was the answer to centuries of racial injustice through a commercial starring Kendall Jenner. The ad showed Kendall participating in a fashion shoot before noticing a nearby protest.
Speaker A
Although Jenner is the main protagonist, the ad also includes an Asian activist and a Muslim photographer who also noticed the march. The protest itself is filled with people from various ethnic and religious backgrounds who've come together to demand justice and systemic
Speaker A
change. However, instead of protesters displaying sadness and anger over something as unsettling as police brutality, PepsiCo's in-house content creation team, Creators League Studio, instructed its protesters to smile and appear to
Speaker A
was likely done to combat the assumption that protests are violent and an inconvenience to the public. Kendall ditches her photo shoot to join in on the protest. She walks past a bowl of Pepsi submerged in ice, grabbing one
Speaker A
before walking towards several white police officers standing in a line formation. Jenner nonchalantly approaches an officer and hands him a can of Pepsi, almost as a peace offering. The crowd goes wild, and even the officer takes a sip and celebrates
Speaker A
with a smile. It's hard to interpret this commercial as anything other than Pepsi suggesting that centuries of systemic injustice and violent clashes between police and protesters could all be solved with a cold soda. And as you can imagine, outrage erupted online.
Speaker A
Brand reported a staggering 21,000% increase in Pepsi social media mentions with most of those being negative. A Twitter user named Antonio Go posted a picture of a black person yelling in apparent anguish as their hair is aggressively pulled by a police officer.
Speaker A
The caption reads, "Kendall, please give him a Pepsi." While there is a tone of humor in this, it also highlights how the ad minimized real struggles, turning violent clashes between police and protesters into a fun party where systemic injustice could be solved with
Speaker A
a soda. The most powerful response came from Bernice King, daughter of the legendary civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. Bernice posted a picture of her father peacefully protesting while being assaulted by police officers with the sarcastic caption, "If only
Speaker A
daddy would have known about the power of #Pepsi." Others shifted criticism from Pepsi to Kendall Jenner, pointing out how a wealthy white woman born and raised in a mansion in Beverly Hills couldn't be more detached from the realities of racial injustice. Pepsi
Speaker A
unintentionally positioning Kendall as the white savior as well as her not having a history of being a social activist couldn't have been worse for her image. And while Pepsi never outright claimed, "We ended racism." The police officer accepting Kendall's Pepsi
Speaker A
before gesturing to his partner, "It's not too bad," heavily implied that their product could be the solution to such a complex issue. The ad would be pulled by the company one day after its release along with an apology. Pepsi was trying
Speaker A
to project a global message of unity, peace, and understanding. Clearly, we missed the mark, and we apologize. We did not intend to make light of any serious issue. We are removing the content and halting any further roll out. We also apologize for putting
Speaker A
Kendall Jenner in this position. Additionally, it was discovered that six people in key positions for the ad's creative team were all white. To critics, this ad was the product of a team that lacked the very perspectives the ad was trying to portray. When no
Speaker A
one in the decision-making process has real life experience with the issues being represented, it becomes much easier to reduce serious struggles to shallow symbolism. In an interesting move, Pepsi continued to clarify and defend Jenner. TMZ reported that Kendall
Speaker A
had no involvement in the creative process and that she took on the project with no knowledge of the marketing vision. She admittedly knew about the story line when she got the script, but by then things were already a done deal.
Speaker A
But this just caused even more backlash because many wondered why it was necessary to apologize to Kendall Jenner. It wasn't just the ad that was tonedeaf, but that the company's first instinct was to protect the celebrity at the center rather than acknowledge the
Speaker A
people whose pain they had turned into a marketing gimmick. Plus, she got paid. In a later episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Kendall burst into tears expressing remorse.
Speaker A
The fact that I would offend other people or hurt other people was definitely not the intent. Like many of these marketing mistakes, the brand apologizes. The celebrity says it was never their intention to hurt anyone.
Speaker A
Honestly, nothing really happens. And then everyone moves on until the next PR disaster proves that nothing was learned. It's actually become so cyclical that in this most recent campaign with Matt Refe and Elf Cosmetics, it almost feels like the
Speaker A
brand was a few steps ahead of the public because the way they responded to the backlash was something we don't see very often. In August of 2025, E.L.F.
Speaker A
Cosmetics released their newest campaign titled The Law Offices of Elfino and Schmars, which featured Tik Tok comedian Matt Reefe alongside drag artists Heidi and Closet. The advertisement parodyied law firm commercials satirically addressing the issue of overpriced beauty products. According to Cory
Speaker A
Marshoto, ELF Beauty's global chief marketing officer, the brand partnered with Reife because the comedian appealed to E.L.F. Cosmetics target female Gen Z audience. His Tik Tok account is 80% female and 75% under the age of 34. So, right in the sweet spot. This is one of
Speaker A
those rare moments where the brand is actually honest about why they chose a celebrity. It's not all this hoopla about how he's so funny and that he aligns with their moral vision for the world. It's simply because his audience
Speaker A
data lined up exactly with the demographic that they wanted to sell product to. Some people might consider this shallow, but in a world of brands pretending to take moral stances that they don't actually believe in, at least this feels transparent. However,
Speaker A
consumers quickly reminded E.L.F. Cosmetics why it's important to conduct a proper background check before endorsing any celebrity. After the partnership went public, Refe's controversial material, specifically joking about domestic violence in his 2023 Netflix special, Natural Selection, became the topic of discussion for women
Speaker A
across social media. Part of Matt Refe's appeal comes from the fact that he doesn't fit the traditional mold of a male stand-up comic. Comedy has long been dominated by averagel-looking men who thrive on exaggerated stories and self-deprecation. Refe, on the other
Speaker A
hand, looked more like the traditional depiction of a handsome man, and his material was mostly talking about the dynamics of and relationships. He would often deliver his jokes using this flamboyant, sassy tone that feels more like discussing juicy gossip with your
Speaker A
girl best friend. Babe, come on. Are you serious? Him? You're worried about him? Matt embraced his heartthrob comic persona and understood that he could gain a niche, diehard fan base if he appealed specifically to women. However, Matt forgot that because of his gender,
Speaker A
he had little room for error. During his 2023 Netflix special, Natural Selection, Reife got a little too comfortable and made an insensitive joke that reminded his audience he's still just a man. At the very beginning of the special, Reife
Speaker A
told a joke about him and his friend that were greeted by a waitress with a black eye. His friend says, "Yeah, I feel bad for her, man. I feel like they should put her in the kitchen or something where nobody has to see her
Speaker A
face." Refe replied, "Yeah, but I feel like if she could cook, she wouldn't have that black eye." He added, "I figure we start the show with domestic violence. The rest of the show should be pretty smooth sailing after that." His
Speaker A
joke ruffled feathers because he made light of a serious issue that plagues his main demographic. According to the CDC's National Intimate Partner and violence survey, approximately 41% of women in the US have experienced contacts violence, physical violence, or
Speaker A
stalking by an intimate partner at some point in their lifetime. E.L.F. Cosmetics says on their ELF Cares site that E.L.F. stands for empowering legendary females while also simultaneously hiring someone who makes light of DV. Beauty influencer Nikkiet Tutorials also spoke out. You lost me.
Speaker A
Matt Refe out of all people so disappointed. However, Elf interestingly claimed that they never anticipated any backlash. There's a big gap between our intention and how this missed the mark for some people. We always aim to deliver positivity, and this one didn't.
Speaker A
So, we find ourselves in a position where quite honestly, that doesn't feel good for us. Elf later made a statement addressing the situation. You know us, we're always listening and we've heard you. The campaign aimed to humorously spotlight beauty and justice. We
Speaker A
understand we miss the mark with people we care about in our elf community. While Alfino and Schmars's closes today will continue to make the case against overpriced beauty, I think it's in the commercial as if slipping in a wink
Speaker A
would soften the blow. It feels a little condescending because it reduces genuine criticism to a branded tagline. It's like if McDonald's made an apology that read, "We know we let some of you down and that's on us. Next time we'll make
Speaker A
sure you're loving it." Or Nike saying, "Owning our mistakes isn't easy, but we have to just do it." It's almost like ELF knows the outrage will fade, the sales won't dip, and in the end, none of it really matters. But not every brand
Speaker A
takes that shrug it off approach. Some go the opposite route, doubling down on their celebrity endorsement, no matter how loud the backlash gets. And no example makes that clearer than American Eagle's unwavering support for Sydney Sweeney. In July of 2025, American Eagle
Speaker A
debuted a fall denim campaign starring pop star Sydney Sweeney. The slogan that accompanied the campaign read, "Sydney Sweeney has great jeans." It's a double entandra complimenting Sydney's genetics, but also her blue jeans. We know this is true because on American
Speaker A
Eagle's Instagram, Sweeney stands in front of a poster of herself titled, "Sydney Sweeney has great jeans before the word jeans as in genetics is crossed out and replaced with jeans as in pants." The neutral reaction to this message was that the brand was just
Speaker A
highlighting that she was a conventionally attractive woman, therefore she has good jeans. However, a more extreme interpretation erupted after another video was released regarding the campaign.
Speaker A
Jeans are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color.
Speaker A
My jeans are blue. Sydney Sweeney has great jeans. Some critics interpreted this ad as American Eagle promoting eugenics, white supremacy, and Nazi propaganda.
Speaker A
Sydney Sweeney campaign is exactly the reason why we need de and I in every corporation. Because what happens when you have a bunch of white folk who all look and think the same?
Speaker A
Those Sydney Sweeney American Eagle ads are weird. Like fascist weird. Like Nazi propaganda weird.
Speaker A
I'm starting to think we're one Sydney Sweeney campaign away from them taking our right to vote, too. Critics felt that the campaign having Sweeney suggests that she has superior genetics while highlighting her blue eyes, blonde hair, and fair skin that American Eagle
Speaker A
was depicting the same Aryan ideal imagery used in Nazi propaganda and other racial purity narratives.
Speaker A
I think this is like a company actively trying to lean into like white nationalists and and eugenicist arguments to to advocate for people to purse their product. Doicat even chimed in and mocked the ad with a sort of
Speaker A
American redneck accent. Jeans are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color. My jeans are blue.
Speaker A
Even Vice President JD Vance joined in to share his opinion. The lesson they have apparently taken is we're going to attack people uh as Nazis for thinking Sydney Sweeney is beautiful. And maybe I'm just desensitized to all of this, but I feel
Speaker A
like these days whenever there's backlash of this matter, it just feels like rage bait that neither side even truly cares about. It's just a week-long distraction dressed up as a moral debate. News outlets are salivating over it, not because it matters, but because
Speaker A
it's easy, pointless talking points that guarantee clicks and outrage without requiring any real reporting. It's almost like both sides of the political spectrum just get amped up whenever there's a reason to argue about their political ideologies. And while everyone
Speaker A
was expecting some corporate sanitized apology, American Eagle posted a statement where they said the ad campaign is and always was about the jeans, as in pants. Her jeans, her story. We'll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with
Speaker A
confidence their way. Great jeans look good on anyone. Weirdly enough, American Eagle actually anticipated receiving backlash. In the run-up to the ad, AE's chief marketing officer, Craig Brummers, told trade media outlets that it included clever, even provocative language and was definitely going to
Speaker A
push buttons. Essentially, they knew they were rage baiting. However, polling data collected by The Economist and Yuggov found that only 12% of Americans found the ad offensive. The poll also revealed that 39% of respondents said the ad was clever. Meanwhile, 40% said
Speaker A
it was neither offensive nor clever, which is data that just backed up what I said before that nobody really cares about this. But if you were to check Twitter, you have millions and millions of people talking about it. So, they
Speaker A
care enough to talk about on social media, but that's pretty much it. And while this ad generated significant buzz for the retailer, it ultimately failed to boost real world sales. Initially, the campaign prompted a 60% jump in American Eagle website visits, signaling
Speaker A
strong online engagement. However, the brand failed to see any meaningful increase in market share or sales.
Speaker A
Retail analytics firm Pass by revealed a 3.9% drop in store visits in the first week after the campaign launch, following a further 9% decline the following week. However, American Eagle wasn't the first company to use this great jeans doubleon tandra, but the
Speaker A
first time it was used will genuinely make you feel disgusted. In 1980, Calvin Klein threw a Hail Mary when the brand featured Brook Shields in a television ad where she says the famous tagline, "You want to know what comes between me
Speaker A
and my Calvin's? Nothing." The campaign also included a commercial in which Shields used word play involving genes and genes. Genes are fundamental in determining the characteristics of an individual and passing on these characteristics to succeeding generations. The campaign was met with
Speaker A
immediate backlash from the public. They were upset because they interpreted the tagline, "Nothing came between her and her Calvin" as a sexual innuendo. This was a problem because Brooke was only 15 years old. By 1980, Calvin Klein was
Speaker A
already gaining a reputation for being bold, youthful, and slightly provocative, but the brand was still far from competing with the top competitors in fashion. The brand's entry into the denim market helped CK appeal to a broader audience. Designer jeans were
Speaker A
starting to emerge as a fashion trend. And Calvin Klein introduced jeans that were marketed as stylish and more luxurious than traditional denim. The brand aimed to target a younger audience who wanted to be seen as cool and edgy
Speaker A
rather than conservative and traditional. Calvin Klein seemingly chose Shields because she was young and probably had a younger fan base. Brooks started modeling as a baby. She famously appeared in a soap ad before her first birthday. By the 70s, she was one of the
Speaker A
most successful child models in the US. regularly featured in fashion campaigns and magazines. However, people took a strange liking to Brooke after she starred in the 1978 film Pretty Baby, where she played a child prostitute.
Speaker A
Although the role cemented her as a serious actress, it also caused adults to start treating the 12-year-old as something to desire. One specific magazine writer couldn't hold back their fascination for the child. The most perfect nymph in all creation has been
Speaker A
found in America. Her name is Brook Shields. Brook's hair is elegant, brown and clean, her skin pale and puritan, her eyes sinfully blue, and her lean body just starting to curve into womanhood. She's a sultry mix of all-American and she's the hottest new
Speaker A
young thing in movies since a smoldering pre-teen named Elizabeth Taylor stiffened up Louis Meer cigar. She is only 12 years old and destined to be the symbol of 1984 that was actually written and published. The release of Pretty
Speaker A
Baby coincided with her modeling career, where Shields was starting to appear in provocative ad campaigns. Calvin Klein wanted to participate in the trend, but noticeably crossed the line. Shields appeared in their campaign wearing some tightly fitted jeans and her blouse
Speaker A
unbuttoned, purposely done to expose the teenager's midsection. It was attention-grabbing, but perceived to not be too much. After the campaign came out, Brooke wasn't prepared for the extreme backlash that ensued. She said, "I was away when they came out and then
Speaker A
I started hearing that the commercials were being banned. The paparazzi would scream at me and my mother. How could you? It just struck me as ridiculous." As a child, Brooke couldn't interpret these innuendos being fed to her by the
Speaker A
predatory adults around her. I didn't think it was about underwear or in nature. I was naive. Despite the backlash and the campaign being banned from major US TV networks like CBS and ABC, Calvin Klein saw a huge boost in
Speaker A
sales. According to The Economist, the ad helped sell 400,000 pairs of jeans in the week following the commercial launch and generated about $12.5 million in royalties by the end of the year, which just proves that backlash doesn't always
Speaker A
destroy a campaign. Sometimes it helps. Either way, the only thing we can guarantee is that another one is right around the corner.
Topics:celebrity marketingBud Light controversyDylan MulvaneyPepsi Kendall Jenner admarketing stuntsbrand backlashcorporate damage controlLGBTQ marketingsocial media outragepolitical marketing
