Pabst Blue Ribbon Account Deletes Tweet About ‘Eating Ass’

In an age where brands routinely comment on TikTok users’ posts and increasingly embrace a “relatable” perception from the public, it looks like Pabst Blue Ribbon might have overstepped a bit too far for its own taste.

The American beer brand tweeted last week on their official account, nodding to the Dry January trend, where folks take a month off booze to ring in the new year. The tweet read: “Not drinking this January? Try eating ass!” For any person who has tackled sobriety, even for a short period, it’s not in essence a bad suggestion, as sex tends to be a pretty good substitute, for better or worse, for getting fucked up.

taken from us too soon. RIP pic.twitter.com/cI6tcd2ru8

— amy b (@arb) January 3, 2022

It seems like the suggestion might have been a bit too provocative for the brand, as the tweet was deleted just a few hours later, followed by a statement from the vice president of marketing for PBR, Nick Reely:

“We apologize about the language and content of our recent tweets,” Reely says in a statement to Adweek. “The tweets in question were written in poor judgment (…) In no way does the content of these tweets reflect the values of Pabst and our associates.”

Reely added that Pabst was “handling the matter internally,” which … I’ll let you add the punchlines there as needed.

If anything, this feels like a reflection of brands’ desperation to be relatable and hip, emulating the vibe of LGBTQ folks online who are sexually candid, only to backtrack, a sort of “Ooh, but not like that,” making it clear that PBR is surely not your queer best friend but merely a brand trying to get your cash. The second it feels like an uh-oh, a potential harm for their public image, PBR is suddenly a distinguished brand once more, one that could never be associated with the sexual promiscuity of the horny queers they’re clearly trying to market to.

To the entire debacle, I offer a familiar sentiment: “Silence, brand!” We don’t need PBR emulating what it believes our community wants to see, or … at the very least, if they’re going to anyway, at least stand by it! I have to believe PBR might have gained more press and sales had they just said, “Ya know what? We said what we said.”

Screenshots don’t forget, Pabst.