If you spent any time browsing Twitter over the holiday weekend, you no doubt came across the now-viral tweet from Pabst Blue Ribbon’s official Twitter account that read “Not drinking this January? Try eating ass!” At this point, official brand accounts wildin’ out on the timeline is nothing new, it’s been done to death, but it still took us by surprise to see a brand get so direct and raunchy. (Though congrats on being sex-positive!)
PBR suggests another option pic.twitter.com/yevwf7J9TA
— leigh powley
she/her (@leighpowley) January 3, 2022
with the original deleted, scholars furiously move as though they’re saving scrolls from the Library of Alexandria, all to document Pabst’s replies about eating ass pic.twitter.com/7DZT10fQuC
— Kelsey D. Atherton (@AthertonKD) January 3, 2022
Many of the replies to that original tweet concerned whether or not the person (or people) behind the tweet would get fired, no word on that yet (but I mean, come on), but PBR has since deleted the now legendary tweet as well as others posted around the same time.
In an emailed statement shared with Ad Age, Pabst Blue Ribbon’s Vice President of marketing wrote, “We apologize about the language and content of our recent tweets… the tweets in question were written in poor judgment by one of our associates… In no way does the content of these tweets reflect the values of Pabst and our Associates. We’re handling the matter internally and have removed the tweets from our social platforms.”
While the ass-eating tweet was the one to go viral, the brand was already facing some criticism for their ill-conceived “Wet January” ad campaign, which, according to Forbes, many on the internet saw as insensitive to people struggling to cut back on alcohol consumption this month.
For all the fuss about PBR’s beyond-tasteless tweet that got deleted, they still are running tons of tweets about Wet January.
That’s in equally poor taste, given that it’s grade school sexual innuendo combined with making light of people trying to push back against alcoholism. https://t.co/fLmSwvJ8Zu
— David Berkowitz (@dberkowitz) January 3, 2022
if the pabst blue ribbon social media person isn’t brought up on charges for making fun of dry january i will be forced to go to the courts myself
— my darling, my treasure (@MostCrucified) January 4, 2022
The whole situation is a head-scratcher. How did this ad campaign get this far in the first place? Was the ass-eating tweet planned and then re-positioned as an error or disgruntled employee when folks didn’t respond well? Was it all another attempt to grab the right kind of “cool corporation” energy that simply failed?
Pabst’s most recent tweet simply reads “beer,” which is much more on brand, if similarly cryptic. What will this saga bring next? A collab with Hardee’s famed “b-holes” for an ass-based pairing menu?
13 years before Pabst joked about eating ass, Hardee’s made a whole (hole?) ad about it. It’s one of my all-time favorite spots, and it was pulled within weeks after backlash from franchisees and conservatives. ENJOY: pic.twitter.com/xkFnNUIlg9
— David Griner (@griner) January 4, 2022
Buckle up, 2022 is already proving to be more chaotic than 2021 and we’re only a few days in.