Embattled beer company Bud Light acted as the official sponsor of the Toronto Pride parade on Sunday, which saw naked men march down the street while children and families lined the sidewalks.
The annual event featured a float decorated with Bud-Light signs, with girls in shorts and colorful Bud-Light shirts dancing to the music.
There was also a group of nudists walking the streets and scantily clad performers dancing on a Bud Light sponsored stage.
The decision to sponsor the event comes just weeks after the company reportedly sponsored an “all-ages Pride event” in Arizona.
The company’s profits are still falling, with sales plummeting another 27 percent in the week ended June 10 as the company continues to face backlash over a controversial partnership with trans-TikToker Dylan Mulvaney.
Bud Light acted as the official sponsor of the Toronto Pride Parade on Sunday, despite the recent controversy with LGBTQ influencer Dylan Mulvaney
The beer brand sponsored a stage on which a group of scantily clad artists performed with stockings over their heads
Videos posted online showed a group of nudists walking the streets at the Pride march while families looked on
Footage from Sunday’s Pride march, captured by Beth Basich of The Post Millennial, showed dozens of participants marching through the streets in front of children who were taking their families to the festival.
One carried a sign that read ‘Life is short: play naked’ and ‘Be naked, be brave’ as the crowd cheered them on.
Another of the naked protesters held up a sign that read, “I proudly celebrate my diversity.”
Other shots showed a stage clearly adorned with the Bud Light branding, featuring scantily clad dancers wearing fishnet stockings, nipple stickers and nylon stockings over their faces, with cartoon eyes painted on them.
The footage was shared online and drew criticism as people questioned the “family-friendly” atmosphere. There were also videos from Pride events in Seattle and New York City.
In Seattle, explicit footage released by a Post Millennial staffer showed naked men with Pride flags painted on their bodies riding down the street and waving at crowds, including many children.
On the sidelines, children and their parents can be seen clapping and cheering on the naked gang.
Millions of people gathered in New York City on Sunday for the Pride March. It hasn’t always been peaceful, however, as a heated moment in New York’s Washington Square Park shows a crowd getting into a physical altercation with the woman, who is holding a sign that reads “Defend Women’s Gender Rights.” .
She was quickly surrounded when the mob began pounding on her sign from all directions as she yelled, “Stop touching me.”
The woman, who identifies herself on social media as “LGBT nonprofit whistleblower” K Yang, had her sign violently ripped from her hands when she was hit on the head with a cup of water.
Bud Light also sponsored a float at the parade to celebrate its 10-year partnership with Pride Toronto
Bud Light also donated $100,000 to various organizations supporting the LGBTQIA+ community across Canada
Bud Light signs were clearly visible on the stage where the daring dancers performed during the Toronto Pride events
Bud Light has acted as a sponsor for Pride events across North America, including gatherings in Chicago, San Francisco, and Toronto.
On its website, Bud Light Canada reiterates that it “has been a proud partner of Pride Toronto for 10 years,” saying, “This year we’re celebrating this milestone with Pride Toronto by featuring them on our can design,” and continues as the official beer sponsor of the festival .’
Several sponsors are listed for the Toronto Pride Month celebrations – including Amazon, Captain Morgan, Crest, Home Depot, Neutrogena and Sephora.
Bud Light also said it has donated $100,000 to various organizations supporting the LGBTQIA+ community across Canada and has created a line of Bud Light beer cans to commemorate the partnership.
has reached out to Bud Light’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch, for comment.
The daring Pride parade came just weeks after Bud Light apparently co-sponsored an “all-ages Pride event” in Flagstaff, Arizona
The beer company was listed as a sponsor on a poster for the Pride in the Pines event on June 17, but after receiving criticism on Twitter, Flagstaff Pride recalled the poster and released a new one, without any mention of Bud Light and said : “We put out a fake promotional poster that listed Bud Light as a sponsor.”
Earlier this month, Bud Light was listed as a sponsor of a “family-friendly” Pride event featuring drag queens in Flagstaff, Arizona
Bud Light executives also denied sponsoring the event, which featured drag queens, but listed it as a “family celebration event” and a “safe place” for all attendees.
But Bud Light was still listed among sponsors on the organization’s website, and a poster for the Pride in the Pines festival on the website said it was “presented by Bud Light.”
The company continues to suffer from the advertising campaign with Dylan Mulvaney, who released a video in early April announcing her partnership with Bud Light.
As part of the controversial action, Mulvaney, 26, posted a video on her Instagram page on April 1 of her opening a Bud Light.
She presented the customized tin with her face on it – one of many corporate gifts she receives and promotes to her millions of followers.
Bud Light has been accused of alienating its traditional customer base by partnering with Mulvaney, prompting many conservatives – including Kid Rock – to boycott the brand.
The Conservatives continued the boycott, which led to the Belgium-based brewery furloughing two executives responsible for the partnership – Alissa Heinerscheid, the vice president of marketing, and her boss Daniel Blake – in April.
After Anheuser-Busch attempted to distance itself from the Mulvaney ad, Bud Light also faced backlash from the opposite direction: pro-LGBTQ groups accused the company of failing the transgender influencer.
The beer giant continues to suffer the fallout from its disastrous ad campaign with trans TikToker Dylan Mulvaney
Bud Light celebrated her first full year as a transgender woman with a beer can featuring her face. It also appears to have made Pride beer cans for the Toronto festival
Since that disastrous ad campaign, the beer giant lost its title as America’s best-selling beer to Modelo, a Mexican lager brewed by Grupo Modelo — also owned by bud maker Anheuser-Busch.
Bud Light sales fell 26.8 percent in the week ended June 10, its worst weekly performance since the ad campaign in early April.
That’s an even deeper drop from the week ended June 3, which was down 24.4 percent, according to Bump Williams Consulting and NielsenIQ. The new low beats the previous low – a drop of almost 26 percent – for the week ending May 25.
Anheuser-Busch’s other US brands — including Budweiser, Michelob Ultra and Natural Light — have also seen significant sales declines since the controversy. Bud is down 10 percent, while Natty Light and Michelob are down 2.3 and 2.4 percent, respectively.
“It’s been a rough week for Bud Light and other beer brands,” said Bump Williams, owner of the consultancy.
The once-popular beer company had its worst week of sales, falling 26.8 percent in the week of June 10
Recently, Anheuser-Busch’s chief marketing officer said that Bud Light’s partnership with Dylan Mulvaney was a humbling reminder that the company needed to better understand its consumers.
Marcel Marcondes made that ironic remark while accepting the Creative Marketer of the Year award at the Cannes Lions, a high-profile industry conference in the south of France dubbed the “Oscars for the advertising industry”.
Although AB was already crowned the winner of the award before the fiasco broke out, it wasn’t officially presented until Monday, meaning there was a mighty elephant in the room. Some even said the company should decline the award, the Wall Street Journal reported.
“In times like these, when division and controversy arise so easily, I think an important wake-up call for all of us is to be very humble, first of all,” he said.
“That’s what we do, staying very humble and reminding ourselves every day what we do best, which is really understanding our consumers.”
“That means truly celebrating and appreciating every consumer who loves our brands – but in a way that ensures they’re together, not apart.”
The session was described in program notes as a talk in part about AB InBev’s “relentless focus on connecting with consumers in meaningful ways,” the Wall Street Journal reported.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Marcondes has worked at AB InBev for almost two decades and now oversees the global marketing strategies of AB brands such as Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob ULTRA, Stella Artois and others.
“It’s hard to appreciate the controversial and divisive debates that have taken place across the United States in recent weeks, involving many brands and companies, including and notably Bud Light,” Marcondes said during the presentation.
“It’s difficult precisely because we’re all about bringing people together.”
“That’s what Bud Light stands for – making beer easy to drink and easy to enjoy,” he said.
“That’s what we will all do as a team, to move forward as a group.” That’s what leaders do. Bud Light is coming back. It’s going across the country, reconnecting with consumers and moving forward. That’s what you can expect from Bud Light in the US.”