Yuengling Brewery to Bud Light: Hold our beer

Yuengling Brewery has a unique story. It is a sixth-generation family-owned and family-run American brewery. It is America’s oldest brewery, celebrating its 194th anniversary. Wisdom is often a bi-product of age and I think it applies in this case. The company’s president is listed as Richard Yuengling Jr.

The brewery has been operating in Pottsville, Pennsylvania since 1829. The four daughters of Richard Yuengling, Jr., now 80 years old, run the business. It may be old but the brewery can still produce 900 cans of beer per minute.

“It’s our story,” Debbie Yuengling, the employee engagement and culture manager for Yuengling, told FOX Business’ Jeff Flock on “Mornings with Maria” Wednesday. “We have a story that nobody else has. We’re America’s oldest brewery, six generations, and we’re super excited and proud about it.”

“We’re very lucky,” Wendy Yuengling, chief administrative officer, said. “We’re sixth-generation in a family business, and we get to work side by side with our dad which not many family companies can say.”

Ironically, Yuengling is a German-origin name that means “young man” in English. Four women run the business now. To celebrate 194 years in business, Yuengling rolled out limited-edition, 12-ounce cans that read, “Let’s Go USA,” while featuring a Stars and Stripes design. No Pride rainbows or transgender characters to draw attention to the brand or insult regular Americans in order to attract The Woke. The pride this company is celebrating is old-fashioned patriotism. How refreshing. The sisters attribute the company’s continued success to “amazing employees and very loyal consumers.”

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— Yuengling Brewery (@yuenglingbeer) June 16, 2023

Even with such an All-American kind of family and business brand, a little scandal may fall. In 2016, for example, the patriarch, billionaire Dick Yuengling, publicly endorsed Donald Trump and Eric Trump visited him. The two men held a press conference. The rainbow mafia went nuts and D.C. gay bars started to boycott the beer, followed by other bars.

This week the brewery found itself dragged into another controversy. For many years, Yuengling has been a sponsor of Musikfest, an annual festival held in Pennsylvania. On Monday, the festival shared a promo on its Facebook page about this year’s event. Yuengling was included in the post, as a sponsor. Four days later the post was edited and Yuengling was removed from the text of the promotion. Why? Because social media followers went nuts.

A “family-friendly drag show” is a part of the festival’s events this year. The original promotion said that “babies in arms” would be admitted. Children under 2 “may not be recommended for some performances.” After the backlash began, ArtsQuest — the venue hosting the event — issued a statement absolving Yuengling of any involvement. And the age for admission into the show had been raised to 18+.

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— Yuengling Brewery (@yuenglingbeer) June 16, 2023

And that, my friends, is how a company does damage control. Mind you, Yuengling has nothing to do with the drag show, “family-friendly” or not, and was only mentioned in the Facebook promo because it was listed as a sponsor. Yuengling quickly worked to nip the backlash in the bud. The well-respected brewery’s name was immediately removed and then the venue changed the age of admission to 18+. Bud Light waited too long to correct the damage brought on by its woke marketing director. They then half-assed the response – they suspended or fired a couple of people and hemmed and hawed about the whole situation. The CEO has still not apologized to Bud Light’s customers (now former customers) and three months down the road, Anheuser-Busch’s CEO is still trying to do clean-up. The CEO refused to do the one thing that would have started a thawing of the chill that Bud Light’s boycotters began – a simple apology. Now it’s too late.

Yuengling doesn’t have to apologize because everyone involved made it completely clear that the brewery had nothing to do with a drag show or babies being admitted to it. Plus, the venue upped the age of admittance to 18+. Yuengling provides a guide on how to correct a bad situation. Move quickly, move decisively, and get all involved on the same page. No one is boycotting Yuengling today. Bud Light, meanwhile, will likely never recover, or at least not for a long time.

I’ve never tried a Yuengling. That may have to change.