RADIOMay 24, 2023

PROOF Bud Light, Target boycotts ARE WORKING. But will it last?

Bud Light sales have dropped dramatically since the Dylan Mulvaney controversy, and now Target is taking steps after its over-the-top pride month/LGBTQ products caused backlash nationwide. The boycotts — and YOUR stance against both companies — are working. But will this actually last?! Typical boycotts usually don’t see longterm effects, but resistance from Americans in these two situations may be different. Glenn and Stu discuss what makes today's Bud Light & Target backlash different and what MUST happen to truly make a long-lasting difference…

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: I'm going to tell the story here, of Target. Now, it came out in the New York Post.

Just a couple of days ago. Target's top executive dismisses the social media uproar over the retailer's new line of LGBTQ friendly kid's clothing. Outraged shoppers have posted videos and images on social media, showing bathing suits, that offer an extra crotch coverage, as well as rainbow-colored onesies for infants and children.

Other offerings that raise conservative haggles, include T-shirts that say Pride Adult Drag Queen.

Trans people will always exist. Girls, gays, theys. So in the podcast last week for Fortune, called Leadership Next, the CEO of -- of Target, Brian Cornell, was asked about the backlash to woke capitalism.

And specifically about Budweiser and Disney. He said, you know, I think these are just good business decisions. And it's the right thing to do for society. And it's a great thing for our brand. The things we've done from a D, E, and I -- diversity, equity, and inclusion standpoint. It's adding value. It's helping us drive sales. It's building greater engagement with both our teams and our guests, and those are just the right things for business today.

Spokesperson for the company told the Associated Press, the tuck-friendly swimsuits are only offered now in adult sizes. Kid's collection does not feature the label.

STU: Oh, that's great.

GLENN: Oh, that's nice.

Yeah, when we think about purpose at Target, he said. It's really about helping all the families. And the word all is very important.

Most of America shops at Target. So we want to do the right thing that supports families across the country. I know that the focus on diversity and inclusion and equity, has fueled much of our growth over the last nine years.

Huh. So it was -- last week, the story was. They're going to stick to their guns. Well, Target came out yesterday, Tuesday, and said, the retail giant is going to pull some of its LGBTQ-friendly kid's clothing from its stores, after facing customer backlash.

Just days after the company's top executive dismissed the social media uproar, the Minneapolis-based chain said, one of the main factors in the nationwide adjustment, ahead of Pride Month, was because some customers had become violent with workers.

Well, I hope that that is not true, and if that is happening, I don't want anything to do with that.

STU: Any of it. If you were to harass a Target employee, violently over clothing.

GLENN: You're an idiot.

STU: Of any sort. But still, this is what they always say.

GLENN: Yeah, I know. So I don't know if I believe anything.

STU: Yeah, they always say, we've had death threats. They have always said. The death threat thing is particularly comical for anyone who happens to be in AM talk radio.

GLENN: Yeah. Suck it up, buttercup. Jeez.

Since introducing this year's collection, we've experienced threats impacting our team member's sense of safety and well-being, while at work, said the Target spokesperson.

Given these volatile circumstances, we are making adjustments to our plants, including removing items that have been at the center of the most significant confrontational behavior.

Target declined to say whether it would remove the tuck-friendly women's swimsuits that allow trans women.

They're men, who have not had gender-affirming operations to conceal their junk.

My words, not theirs. One of the LGBTQ brands being pulled, however, is Aprallen (phonetic), which makes T-shirts, sweatshirts, bags. Mainly because, you know, it's a cult, and Satanic-themed.

LGBTQ features and stuff. I mean, I don't know. Criticism has been widespread, Target spokesperson said.

Folks are reaching out with feedback. While some are sharing it with constructive criticism. They disagree with product decisions that we have made. Target shares were down, 3 percent yesterday. At closing.

So it's good for their brand. Good for their brand.

No. Actually not good. You are the beginning to have an effect.

You -- anyone -- anyone that you know that is like, let's go and tear it down.

Tell them they're a moron.

You're beginning to win!

Already, ESG -- any ESG fund is way down.

They're not introducing -- they're introducing half of the number of funds, than they did last year.

That's because you're winning.

Now you have Budweiser on the ropes. I mean, have you heard the ads from one of the local bottling companies in Alabama.

Did an ad. And they're -- it's a really bad ad. But it's like, we're sorry. We don't have anything to do with this.

We have nothing to do -- we're all local people just like you. We disagree.

We have nothing to do with this.

But it's getting -- it's bad.

STU: I think this is a really fascinating case study. The whole Bud Light thing.

And I think the Target thing is rising to that level as well.

In which, I don't know exactly how these things work. Or how you do them, or how you make them happen.

You know, we were talking about this a little off-air the other day. Obviously, Miller Lite is one of the big alternatives for Bud Light. I swear Bud Light is the one -- this is Sara Gonzales' point which I'm stealing, but I swear Bud Light leaked the Miller Lite ad because it was old.

GLENN: Oh, sure they did. I'm sure they did.

STU: But Miller Lite is the alternative. Right? But then they were doing this too.

Now, of course, Coors is -- owns Miller Lite. So Coors Light and Miller Lite are in on all this stuff too.

And Michelob Ultra also released an ad a while ago, that had a transgender athlete that we just all missed. I don't even know what happened.

GLENN: That's okay.

I don't care who teaches everybody a lesson, somebody needs to teach -- be taught the lesson.

STU: And that's what's fascinating here.

Maybe that's the answer. Because you really can't boycott everybody that does things that you don't like. It wouldn't even be consistent with capitalism to boycott everyone that disagrees with you.

GLENN: It's not even possible.

STU: It's not possible in this society. It's also not consistent with the principles of capitalism. Like, you're not supposed to do only business with people you agree with.

That being said, when you have things like this, that's making a big difference. Their sales are down 24 percent.

Their stock does seem to finally be reacting to this. For a while, it hadn't really reacted.

GLENN: Because I don't think people thought it was serious. And thought it was going to last.

STU: Right. And so now you're seeing them panic. You see a real reaction. Disney is the same way.

I don't know that Disney's business was particularly harmed by any of the stuff that happened there.

But it might be.

They -- a lot of the stuff that has been talked about.

We talked about it with the DeSantis situation.

They acted like they were blaming DeSantis for this 1 billion project that they shut down.

When in reality, they pretty much shut it down previously.

But still, like, nobody wants to be the next Disney. Nobody wants to have -- nobody wants to be the next Bud Light.

Nobody wants to be the next Target. Why bother with this stuff?

Just stay out of this discussion completely.

GLENN: Well, I will tell you that I hear from Ramaswamy. What's his name?

Yeah. Vivek Ramaswamy. He said, I talked to business leaders all the time, Glenn.

He says, there's a few of them that are held hostage. He said, that they're like, we don't want to do any of this with Vivek.

We just can't not do it.

STU: I think that's more common than we realize.

GLENN: I think so too.

You start teaching.

I don't know if Target is a true believer or not.

Boy, they sure seem like it.

STU: But the fact that they're moving clothes from the front to the back.

GLENN: They're only doing it in certain cities, et cetera, et cetera.

I think they just -- I -- boycott.

Don't -- and this is a women's thing, really. The men who goes -- that go to Target. They're like, I'm going to tear your face off. Are not the ones that they are going to concern themselves with.

STU: Also, are there actually any of the people -- I've never seen one. It's possible. I suppose. Some idiot is doing something dumb.

GLENN: I don't know. But one person does something dumb, and then it becomes the whole thing.

STU: Yes.

GLENN: But women, and I -- I mean, Ricki, our executive producer, she's like, I'm trying not to go to Target. It's been three days. I'm having a hard time not going to Target. I'm like, well, we can -- I can give you a 12-step class to go to.

We'll do 12 steps to get you off of Target. But it's the women that will make the difference in this one. And if you keep this up, if you teach Target the Anheuser-Busch lesson, you've got two in a row. And kind of with Disney. Three.

STU: Yeah. I just Disney counts. I think too, one of the things that's interesting with the Bud Light thing. And I've gone through this myself. It's not as much about some sort of organized boycott against this company.

Honestly, I don't know that -- I've heard a lot of people talking about that. It's not like a typical boycott that we've been on the other side of. Right? Where you have all these big organizations.

One of the things I think with Bud Light. And maybe Target is getting to that point.

Is that it's created some level of like societal, like, ickiness.

Like, it's one of those things. I think I mentioned this story.

I went to a wedding, and they had all the beers up there.

You can choose whatever you like.

And normally, I'll have one beer at a wedding. I'll probably have a Bud Light, just because it's the one I -- but I looked at it, and I was like, eh, I don't want to get a conversation about transgender issues tonight with somebody. I'll take a Miller Lite.

And I think that is like, what is actually affecting sales.

I don't know, that everybody would be like. Yes. We have people who are -- Kid Rock is shooting his Bud Light with machine guns. Maybe that's part of it. But I think part of it, too, is people want to avoid it.

And it's created this societal pressure on people, to just choose something else.

GLENN: That's -- when that happens, when somebody comes into the house with a Target bag, or you say, oh, I got this at Target.

And they'll say, you're shopping at Target?

STU: Yeah. Yeah.

GLENN: That's when this will change. That's when this will change.

STU: That's when it happens. It's amazing.

GLENN: I've been saying this for a while. I have really good feelings. Bad crap is coming our way. Don't get me wrong.

For those of you who listen for the doom and gloom, I'm still here.

But good things are happening as well.

There is something happening in America. Anheuser-Busch going down and staying down. And now, just in a couple of days, I mean, the icky feeling happened with me and my wife.

When we were walking through Target, and it's right there.

It's in your face.

And as I'm walking down the aisle of Target, right in front of the cashier. And I see all of this.

I'm like, you know, really?

This is who you are? This is who you think we are?

You think that transgendered needs a -- a display up front?

How many transgender people are there?

You are grooming our children. It really bothered me. Really bothered me.

STU: Yeah. And, you know, when you look at -- we just talked about this with the social media alert from the government yesterday.

They sent us a positive, one of the things about social media was it helped people -- what was it?

Developed their identity in LGBTQ. That was one of the positive effects of social media.

They had tons of negatives like suicide and everything else. But one of the positives was, if you happen to be LGBTQ, this helps you develop your identity.

And it's like, well, that's just saying, that social media is there, to walk you -- I mean, grooming is -- it's actually a really good word for that.

GLENN: It is. It is.

STU: It's different than the criminal version of it.

But it's a pretty applicable word.

GLENN: You know, they say, the thing that one generation tolerates, the next will embrace.

If you look at casual sex, we tolerated Bill Clinton.

Well, it depends on what the definition of is, is. And all of a sudden, it became totally cool.

Sex, and oral sex. All of that, totally fine.

Kids doing it in schools, almost immediately. Okay?

Remember that -- where was that story that was in Virginia.

STU: Alexandra, Virginia. Anyway, there was a -- this happened over night.

What are we tolerating? We are now tolerating Satanism.

We are now tolerating our children being groomed for trans drag shows. You don't want this embraced as a society.

Could passengers have SAVED Iryna Zarutska?

Surveillance footage of the murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte, NC, reveals that the other passengers on the train took a long time to help her. Glenn, Stu, and Jason debate whether they were right or wrong to do so.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: You know, I'm -- I'm torn on how I feel about the people on the train.

Because my first instinct is, they did nothing! They did nothing! Then my -- well, sit down and, you know -- you know, you're going to be judged. So be careful on judging others.

What would I have done? What would I want my wife to do in that situation?

STU: Yeah. Are those two different questions, by the way.

GLENN: Yeah, they are.

STU: I think they go far apart from each other. What would I want myself to do. I mean, it's tough to put yourself in a situation. It's very easy to watch a video on the internet and talk about your heroism. Everybody can do that very easily on Twitter. And everybody is.

You know, when you're in a vehicle that doesn't have an exit with a guy who just murdered somebody in front of you, and has a dripping blood off of a knife that's standing 10 feet away from you, 15 feet away from you.

There's probably a different standard there, that we should all kind of consider. And maybe give a little grace to what I saw at least was a woman, sitting across the -- the -- the aisle.

I think there is a difference there. But when you talk about that question. Those two questions are definitive.

You know, I know what I would want myself to do. I would hope I would act in a way that didn't completely embarrass myself afterward.

But I also think, when I'm thinking of my wife. My advice to my wife would not be to jump into the middle of that situation at all costs. She might do that anyway. She actually is a heck of a lot stronger than I am.

But she might do it anyway.

GLENN: How pathetic, but how true.

STU: Yes. But that would not be my advice to her.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

STU: Now, maybe once the guy has certainly -- is out of the area. And you don't think the moment you step into that situation. He will turn around and kill you too. Then, of course, obviously. Anything you can do to step in.

Not that there was much anyone on the train could do.

I mean, I don't think there was an outcome change, no matter what anyone on that train did.

Unfortunately.

But would I want her to step in?

Of course. If she felt she was safe, yes.

Think about, you said, your wife. Think about your daughter. Your daughter is on that train, just watching someone else getting murdered like that. Would you advise your daughter to jump into a situation like that?

That girl sitting across the aisle was somebody's daughter. I don't know, man.

JASON: I would. You know, as a dad, would I advise.

Hmm. No.

As a human being, would I hope that my daughter or my wife or that I would get up and at least comfort that woman while she's dying on the floor of a train?

Yeah.

I would hope that my daughter, my son, that I would -- and, you know, I have more confidence in my son or daughter or my wife doing something courageous more than I would.

But, you know, I think I have a more realistic picture of myself than anybody else.

And I'm not sure that -- I'm not sure what I would do in that situation. I know what I would hope I would do. But I also know what I fear I would do. But I would have hoped that I would have gotten up and at least tried to help her. You know, help her up off the floor. At least be there with her, as she's seeing her life, you know, spill out in under a minute.

And that's it other thing we have to keep in mind. This all happened so rapidly.

A minute is -- will seem like a very long period of time in that situation. But it's a very short period of time in real life.

STU: Yeah. You watch the video, Glenn. You know, I don't need the video to -- to change my -- my position on this.

But at his seem like there was a -- someone who did get there, eventually, to help, right? I saw someone seemingly trying to put pressure on her neck.

GLENN: Yeah. And tried to give her CPR.

STU: You know, no hope at that point. How long of a time period would you say that was?

Do you know off the top of your head?

GLENN: I don't know. I don't know. I know that we watched the video that I saw. I haven't seen past 30 seconds after she --

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: -- is down. And, you know, for 30 seconds nothing is happening. You know, that is -- that is not a very long period of time.

STU: Right.

GLENN: In reality.

STU: And especially, I saw the pace he was walking. He certainly can't be -- you know, he may have left the actual train car by 30 seconds to a minute. But he wasn't that far away. Like he was still in visual.

He could still turn around and look and see what's going on at that point. So certainly still a threat is my point. He has not, like, left the area. This is not that type of situation.

You know, I -- look, as you point out, I think if I could be super duper sexist for a moment here, sort of my dividing line might just be men and women.

You know, I don't know if it's that a -- you're not supposed to say that, I suppose these days. But, like, there is a difference there. If I'm a man, you know, I would be -- I would want my son to jump in on that, I suppose. I don't know if he could do anything about it. But you would expect at least a grown man to be able to go in there and do something about it. A woman, you know, I don't know.

Maybe I'm -- I hope --

GLENN: Here's the thing I -- here's the thing that I -- that causes me to say, no. You should have jumped in.

And that is, you know, you've already killed one person on the train. So you've proven that you're a killer. And anybody who would have screamed and got up and was with her, she's dying. She's dying. Get him. Get him.

Then the whole train is responsible for stopping that guy. You know. And if you don't stop him, after he's killed one person, if you're not all as members of that train, if you're not stopping him, you know, the person at the side of that girl would be the least likely to be killed. It would be the ones that are standing you up and trying to stop him from getting back to your daughter or your wife or you.

JASON: There was a -- speaking of men and women and their roles in this. There was a video circling social media yesterday. In Sweden. There was a group of officials up on a stage. And one of the main. I think it was health official woman collapses on stage. Completely passes out.

All the men kind of look away. Or I don't know if they're looking away. Or pretending that they didn't know what was going on. There was another woman standing directly behind the woman passed out.

Immediately springs into action. Jumps on top. Grabs her pant leg. Grabs her shoulder. Spins her over and starts providing care.

What did she have that the other guys did not? Or women?

She was a sheepdog. There is a -- this is my issue. And I completely agree with Stu. I completely agree with you. There's some people that do not respond this way. My issue is the proportion of sheepdogs versus people that don't really know how to act. That is diminishing in western society. And American society.

We see it all the time in these critical actions. I mean, circumstances.

There are men and women, and it's actually a meme. That fantasize about hoards of people coming to attack their home and family. And they sit there and say, I've got it. You guys go. I'm staying behind, while I smoke my cigarette and wait for the hoards to come, because I will sacrifice myself. There are men and women that fantasize of block my highway. Go ahead. Block my highway. I'm going to do something about it. They fantasize about someone holding up -- not a liquor store. A convenience store or something. Because they will step in and do something. My issue now is that proportion of sheepdogs in society is disappearing. Just on statistical fact, there should be one within that train car, and there were none.

STU: Yeah. I mean --

JASON: They did not respond.

STU: We see what happens when they do, with Daniel Penny. Our society tries to vilify them and crush their existence. Now, there weren't that many people on that train. Right?

At least on that car. At least it's limited. I only saw three or four people there, there may have been more. I agree with you, though. Like, you see what happens when we actually do have a really recent example of someone doing exactly what Jason wants and what I would want a guy to do. Especially a marine to step up and stop this from happening. And the man was dragged by our legal system to a position where he nearly had to spend the rest of his life in prison.

I mean, I -- it's insanity. Thankfully, they came to their senses on that one.

GLENN: Well, the difference between that one and this one though is that the guy was threatening. This one, he killed somebody.

STU: Yeah. Right. Well, but -- I think -- but it's the opposite way. The debate with Penny, was should he have recognize that had this person might have just been crazy and not done anything?

Maybe. He hadn't actually acted yet. He was just saying things.

GLENN: Yeah. Well --

STU: He didn't wind up stabbing someone. This is a situation where these people have already seen what this man will do to you, even when you don't do anything to try to stop him. So if this woman, who is, again, looks to be an average American woman.

Across the aisle. Steps in and tries to do something. This guy could easily turn around and just make another pile of dead bodies next to the one that already exists.

And, you know, whether that is an optimal solution for our society, I don't know that that's helpful.

In that situation.

THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

Max Lucado on Overcoming Grief in Dark Times | The Glenn Beck Podcast | Ep 266

Disclaimer: This episode was filmed prior to the assassination of Charlie Kirk. But Glenn believes Max's message is needed now more than ever.
The political world is divided, constantly at war with itself. In many ways, our own lives are not much different. Why do we constantly focus on the negative? Why are we in pain? Where is God amid our anxiety and fear? Why can’t we ever seem to change? Pastor Max Lucado has found the solution: Stop thinking like that! It may seem easier said than done, but Max joins Glenn Beck to unpack the three tools he describes in his new book, “Tame Your Thoughts,” that make it easy for us to reset the way we think back to God’s factory settings. In this much-needed conversation, Max and Glenn tackle everything from feeling doubt as a parent to facing unfair hardships to ... UFOs?! Plus, Max shares what he recently got tattooed on his arm.

THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

Are Demonic Forces to Blame for Charlie Kirk, Minnesota & Charlotte Killings?

This week has seen some of the most heinous actions in recent memory. Glenn has been discussing the growth of evil in our society, and with the assassination of civil rights leader Charlie Kirk, the recent transgender shooter who took the lives of two children at a Catholic school, and the murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, how can we make sense of all this evil? On today's Friday Exclusive, Glenn speaks with BlazeTV host of "Strange Encounters" Rick Burgess to discuss the demon-possessed transgender shooter and the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk. Rick breaks down the reality of demon possession and how individuals wind up possessed. Rick and Glenn also discuss the dangers of the grotesque things we see online and in movies, TV shows, and video games on a daily basis. Rick warns that when we allow our minds to be altered by substances like drugs or alcohol, it opens a door for the enemy to take control. A supernatural war is waging in our society, and it’s a Christian’s job to fight this war. Glenn and Rick remind Christians of what their first citizenship is.