Offspring’s Noodles Says Band Will Stock Anheuser-Busch, Jack Daniel’s Backstage to Counter ‘Dimwitted Bigots’
Days after country singer Travis Tritt said he would be banning Anheuser-Busch beverages from his backstage hospitality riders, The Offspring guitarist Noodles responded by announcing that the veteran punk act is doubling down on the Bud products.
“We are going to be adding Anheiser-Busch products & Jack Daniels to our hospitality rider just to piss off a bunch of dimwitted bigots who fear what they don’t understand,” wrote the 60-year-old guitarist born Kevin John Wasserman. “I know a s–t-ton of artists who feel exactly the same. (And we all drink A LOT).”
Noodles retweeted Tritt’s original post, in which he announced that he’d be “deleting” all Anheuser-Busch products going forward, adding, “I know many other artists who are doing the same.” Tritt’s action came after backlash against the brand — whose products include Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob, Rolling Rock, Busch, Shock Top and many more — for teaming up with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney in a March Madness campaign. Trans singer Laura Jane Grace responded to Tritt’s tweet by turning around a frequent right-wing insult against liberals on the 60-year-old country act, “Snowflake,” they wrote.
Tritt’s announcement came after MAGA-hat wearing rapper-turned-country singer Kid Rock opened fire on cases of Bud Light with a military-style assault rifle while announcing, “f– Bud Light and f–k Anheuser-Busch.”
While neither Tritt nor Rock specifically referred to Mulvaney or AB’s partnership with the TikTok star, the “Foolish Pride” country singer’s run of tweets about breaking up with AB also included his posting of a Jack Daniel’s ad featuring a trio of drag performers (BeBe Zahara Benet, Trinity Taylor and Manila Luzon) as part of the brand’s pact with RuPaul’s Drag Race alums on the “Drag Queen Summer Glamp” campaign.
“All the @JackDaniels_US drinkers should take note,” Tritt wrote while noting that he was on a a Bud-sponsored tour in the 1990s while lamenting the brand’s merger with Belgian beverage giant InBev in 2004.
In a statement to Billboard, Jack Daniel’s stood by its Glamp campaign and its support for the queer and trans communities. “Jack Daniel’s is made with everyone in mind, including the LGBTQ+ community,” a spokesperson said. “As a longtime champion of the LGBTQ+ community, Jack Daniel’s celebrates individuality and living life boldly on your own terms.”
As previously reported, AB did not respond to a request for comment regarding Tritt’s tweets, but in a previous statement shared with Billboard the brand also stood by its inclusive stance. “Anheuser-Busch works with hundreds of influencers across our brands as one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences across various demographics,” a spokesperson said. Tritt has declined Billboard‘s request for further comment.
See Noodles’ tweet below.
Gil Kaufman
Billboard
