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Ongoing saga over Bud Light promotional post by transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney took overtly political turn this wk, led by Republican Senators Ted Cruz and Marsha Blackburn, ranking members of the Senate Commerce Committee. The lawmakers issued letter to AB ceo and Beer Inst chairman Brendan Whitworth seeking an investigation by BI Mktg Code Compliance Review Board as well as congressional oversight into the post's origins. Their reason? Concern that the post targeted underage consumers given Mulvaney's popularity among youth. It includes claim that the single Instagram post is "starkly similar to the discredited and now illegal marketing campaigns of cigarette manufacturers," like "Joe Camel," a long-term, frequently used spokes-cartoon for Camel cigarettes. BI mktg code requires all beer ads to be shown to audiences that are at least 73.6% 21+. And appeal process is relatively straightforward, easily triggered via form on org's website or email. It's not typically initiated via public letter to chairman/member ceo. Ramifications for violations typically involve removing ad from market or social media. Sens Cruz and Blackburn seek similar outcome as well as promise to "cut ties" with Mulvaney and apology. AB insists all its marketing materials strictly adhere to mktg standards, including ensuring they primarily reach of-age audiences. BI prexy/ceo Brian Crawford assured that "brewers follow the strictest standards in the beverage alcohol industry in marketing their products," adding that FTC has repeatedly endorsed its self-regulatory review board process.But these lawmakers also intend to make a parallel review of the Instagram post the business of Congress, charging. They seek a slew of documents covering essentially any and all communications, scripts, plans and more about the partnership with Mulvaney. That includes all interactions with the influencer's team in preparation of the post. They also seek any documents covering internal "after the fact audits" as well as all materials submitted for BI review board process.The letter frequently points to Mulvaney's activity and 10.8-mil followers on TikTok. But recall, Bud Light post did not appear on that platform, only Instagram. There's an obvious reason for that, as we wrote when controversy first exploded in early April. TikTok does not provide for age-gating to block underage users from seeing alcohol-related content. Most major alc bev suppliers therefore steer completely clear of the platform. Instagram, on the other hand, makes it very easy for creators to block entire profiles and individual posts from underage users. In fact, the platform requires all sponsored posts for alcohol brands to be age-gated, automatically blocking them from underage users. Hard to imagine that given all the attention of this post, the platform hasn't already double-checked to ensure it meets its own guidelines.Finally, most of the Senators' letter focuses not on AB or Bud Light, but on Mulvaney, claiming the social media star works to "specifically appeal to young viewers." In that way, the lawmakers' reasoning parallels the public justification for a wave of transgender-targeted state legislation advanced in the name of protecting kids. While that's been the backdrop of the controversy the whole time, these Senators connect the outrage over the Bud Light post to that legislation, albeit indirectly.

Ted Cruz Enters the Chat: Senators Seek BI Mktg Code Review, Docs on Dylan Mulvaney Post

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