Popular adult drink company Bud Light made waves with a huge announcement on February 1. Ahead of the Super Bowl, the company announced that controversial comedian, Shane Gillis, would be their new spokesperson.
The irony of the announcement is that Gillis has a track record of making racist and homophobic jokes, while last year, the company’s sales plummeted after they signed transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney to an endorsement deal.
After the announcement, Twitter erupted with thoughts about the new hire. “I didn’t drink Bud Light before and still probably won’t) but signing Shane Gillis has gotta be the best rebuttal Bud Light could’ve ever had,” one user said.
“I like Shane Gillis. Hope he makes a ton of cash. F bud light. If you can’t even maintain a simple grudge that only requires you to not buy crappy beer from a crappy company, just stfu about everything,” another added.
“Bud Light has hired a comedian endorser, Shane Gillis, who was fired by SNL for ‘insensitive jokes.’ Credit to Bud Light, this is a smart move and a direct repudiation of ‘chicks’ with d**** marketing,” another said.
“Anhueser-Busch hires another spokesperson, comedian Shane Gillis, to help keep its Titanic-like Bud Light from completely going down. Nothing’s changed at AB except a few deck chair spokespersons on this Titanic brand,” another user wrote.
Comedian’s Risky Jokes Cost Him ‘SNL’ Gig
Gillis found himself in trouble last year. During an appearance on “Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast,” the comedian was heard using a racial slur towards Chinese people.
“Chinatown’s f—ing nuts. Let the f—-ing ch–ks live there,” he said.
The leaked footage came shortly after he was hired to be a part of the Saturday Night Live cast. But amid the backlash, the hit television show rescinded their offer.
“After talking with Shane Gillis, we have decided that he will not be joining SNL,” the show stated in a release. “We were not aware of his prior remarks that have surfaced over the past few days.”
“The language he used is offensive, hurtful, and unacceptable. We are sorry that we did not see these clips earlier, and that our vetting process was not up to our standards.”
Gillis Defends His Comedic Material
Comedians tend to push the envelope. But there is a thin line between telling a risky joke and being outright offensive. Following the leaked footage of his comments, the comedian issued a statement about his jokes.
In it, he admitted that he has a lot of “misses” but never is trying to offend anyone intentionally. “I’m a comedian who pushes boundaries. I sometimes miss. If you go through my 10 years of comedy, most of it bad, you’re going to find a lot of bad misses,” Gillis wrote.
“I’m happy to apologize to anyone who’s actually offended by anything I’ve said. My intention is never to hurt anyone but I am trying to be the best comedian I can be and sometimes that requires risks.”