Jack Daniel’s, a southern whiskey brand, is facing backlash from conservative groups for featuring drag queens in their 2021 Pride campaign. The campaign features RuPaul’s Drag Race alums Bebe Zahara Benet, Trinity the Tuck, and Manila Luzon, and shows the queens preparing for Jack Daniel’s first-ever Pride celebration.
Conservative pundit and Turning Point USA chief creative officer Benny Johnson tweeted the two-year-old campaign, calling it “woke” and “degenerate.” This tweet was retweeted by country musician Travis Tritt, who recently announced his boycott of Anheuser-Busch after they partnered with a trans influencer.
The backlash against Jack Daniel’s quickly grew on social media, with anti-LGBTQ+ users calling for a boycott of the brand. Conservative commentator and House of Shades star Michael Knowles even made the strange distinction between Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 whiskey and Jack Fire, claiming that “100% of the people who drink Jack Fire are at least homosexuals.”
One particularly outraged Jack Daniel’s fan from New Jersey, Pauly Michaelis, even went so far as to destroy his extensive collection of Jack Daniel’s memorabilia in a viral video. However, his actions were met with ridicule on social media, with users calling him a “snowflake.”
The criticism of Jack Daniel’s for being “woke” is ironic, given that the company’s recipe, like all Tennessee whiskey, is based on a distilling process developed by Nearest Green, a formerly enslaved man who is considered the first known Black master distiller in history.
It is important to note that Jack Daniel’s is based in Lynchburg, Tennessee, which recently passed a law intended to ban drag performances in public spaces, making it the first state in the nation to do so.
The backlash against Jack Daniel’s Pride campaign highlights the ongoing tension between conservative groups and companies that support LGBTQ+ rights. While some individuals may choose to boycott these companies, others will continue to support them and their commitment to inclusivity.