The Illusion of Political Choice in America
The culture wars keep intensifying in the United States. In this latest escalation, corporations are being freshly targeted for the politics they support through their marketing. A recent victim was Bud Light, for many years the top selling beer in the United States. The brand lost its top spot in June 2023, according to the Wall Street Journal, after months of backlash from a marketing campaign on social media featuring a trans influencer. Modelo Especial, the famous Mexican lager, now leads in sales.
In this news story many want to see a victory for the consumer, a striking validation of their power and leverage over corporations. Consumers have the final say because they can vote with their wallets. People punished Bud Light and rewarded a competitor that aligns closer to their values. But there is a twist in this story. A less published aspect in the story of Bud Light's backlash is that both, Modelo and Bud Light, are owned by the same company, an international brewer called AB Inbev. Knowing this, the final significance of consumer's power of choice is less evident, even questionable. What does it mean that people are able to choose between these two brands, if the final beneficiary is the same?
Something similar happens in American politics. People vote for one party or the other depending on how closely their rhetoric aligns with the way they feel about the state of affairs. When things don't feel right, they punish the party in power and vote for the alternative. But here too, there is a twist. The structures behind America's two ruling parties overlap significantly. They are not only similar in terms of nature and motives, they are also meshed by strong social and economic ties existing between the individuals and organizations capable of launching political careers.
The genesis of political careers in the United States today is dominated by a vast network of people and private organizations that operate politically. The goal of these groups is to exert early influence in the careers of rising politicians, cultivating a link of influence with people in positions of power. Different groups support different people, but all groups of influence share a primordial tie, a bond of economic class, meaning they all enjoy a privilege for which they will 'class' together and fight to protect. That is also why they class together to protect their right to operate politically.
Like in the feud between Bud Light and Modelo, the choices voters in America make between red and blue are compromised, because the names appearing on the ballots are both firmly under the influence of private structures motivated by privilege. The backing of these groups comes in the form of opportunities and donations made in money and kind in benefit of politicians with career viability. As an organized practice, it is a modern form of 'king-making', a vast operation of political influence to keep legislation and policy firmly in service of the privileged class.
Addendum
How would your views change, if you learned that Modelo is, in fact, owned by a rival brewer, Constellation Brands? What this means is that the social media backlash suffered by Bud Light did cause economic pain. Does the concluding argument remain valid?
Ab Inbev is the result of the corporate merger between American brewer Anheuser-Busch, owner of Budweiser, and the Belgo-brazilian brewer InBev. In 2012, AB Inbev purchased the brands and operations of Cervecería Modelo of Mexico City, producer of the Modelo and Corona brands. AB Inbev owns these two brands worldwide except in the United States, sold to Constellation as part of the anti-trust deal negotiated with the US Department of Justice.