First Bud Light and Kid Rock; now Jack Daniel’s and Pauly Michaelis.
The iconic Tennessee whiskey brand is being criticized for having “went woke” with a drag-queen marketing campaign, and one fan’s Facebook response has gone viral.
Pauly Michaelis, a self-described superfan, wrote in a Facebook post last week that “for over 150 years since 1866 this drink was always associated with cowboys, warriors, bikers, savage rock bands, and all American bad a** people. THEY WENT WOKE,” he wrote.
Mr. Michaelis was a little kinder than Kid Rock, who shot up cases of Bud Light over its embrace of transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
He instead made a video in which he “only” burns what had to be hundreds of dollars worth of Jack Daniel’s alcohol and merchandise that he owned.
The occasion was a Jack Daniel’s campaign, which Newsweek pointed out was nearly two years old but which people began noticing again after the Bud Light furor, that uses drag queens from “Ru Paul’s Drag Race.”
Jack Daniel’s produced a series of videos titled “Drag Queen Summer Glamp” with three drag queens from the hit TV show during Gay Pride Month in 2021, in which the drag queens do summer-camp-style challenges around its Lynchburg, Tennessee, distillery.
“THEY took a classic tradition of Americana that was the total definition of masculinity and made it WOKE and for this I say F*** YOU JD and all of your products. You will never have the honor of touching my lips ever again,” Mr. Michaelis said.
He’s not alone in his anger at Jack Daniel’s, Newsweek noted.
Country-music star Travis Tritt tweeted that whiskey drinkers “should take note,” and posted promotional images of the Jack Daniel’s campaign.
Political columnist Benny Johnson, chief creative officer with the conservative Turning Point U.S.A., wrote last week that Jack Daniel’s had “gone full woke” and then took a shot at the product.
“BREAKING: Jack Daniels has officially changed their name to ’Jill Daniels’ Pronouns are same: Trash/Whiskey,” he wrote on Twitter.
A Jack Daniel’s spokesperson defended the campaign in a comment to Newsweek.
The company’s products were “made with everyone in mind, including the LGBTQ+ community. As a longtime champion of the LGBTQ+ community, Jack Daniel’s celebrates individuality and living life boldly on your own terms,” the spokesperson said.
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• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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