"Boycott Bud Light": An Analysis of Misinformation in Online Discussion During a Brand Controversy

Abstract

On 1st April 2023, social media personality Dylan Mulvaney uploaded a video on Instagram featuring herself carrying Bud Light cans to promote Bud Light's #EasyCarryContest during March Madness, where the contest winner would win $15,000. This video also featured a promotional can that Bud Light had gifted Mulvaney to commemorate the one-year anniversary of her Days of Girlhood series. The post by Mulvaney gathered a significant amount of unfavourable reactions on social media from other influencers and social media users, adversely affecting Bud Light's sales (Oi, 2023). In the digital era, misinformation has the potential to influence how consumers interact with a brand, affecting not only consumers' trust in brands but also consumer-brand relationships (Sharif et al., 2022). Consequently, this can lead to negative consumer behaviours where consumers may act in ways that criticise and potentially damage a brand's reputation and sales. The widespread use of social media means that misinformation can spread rapidly, emphasising the significance of understanding online discussions that facilitate misinformation. The study uses the Mulvaney and Bud Light controversy as a case study to address the research question: How does misinformation manifest in online discussions during a brand controversy? The study uses Netnography (Kozinets, 2020) to understand complex online discussions, closely examining comments and responses captured in the feedback sections of relevant YouTube videos. Thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2022) is subsequently used to conduct a qualitative analysis of various interactions within the YouTube comments Drawing on 1,298 comments from 13 YouTube videos, the study identifies several key themes, including: Go woke, go broke, Misgendering, Criticism and accusations toward Bud Light, Consumer identity, and External commentators. The findings underscore the complexity of identifying, defining and interpreting misinformation amidst a brand controversy. Furthermore, the study highlights motivations behind the spread of misinformation along with the presence of echo chambers, gendered misinformation and negative consumer behaviour that facilitate the spread of misinformation.