Is every company going woke? Is every business losing sight of its customer base? It may sometimes seem so, but one America-embraced mainstay is keeping perspective clearly in its sights — after a severe misfire.

You’re surely aware of the recent kerfuffle over Bud Light and social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Relatedly, a March Miller Lite ad has resurfaced. The misogyny-manhandling commercial decries using bikini-clad girls to sell beer — to men who like, well, girls in bikinis.

As it turns out, employment of the female form is feces:

It seems Miller Lite doesn’t understand their audience either. pic.twitter.com/TXGoEPYzbw

— Mythinformed (@MythinformedMKE) May 15, 2023

Enter esteemed firearms manufacture Heckler & Koch, or at least one of its workers.

If you’re unfamiliar with the company, here’s a quote from its official site:

For more than 70 years, Heckler & Koch as a medium-sized company has stood for innovation, reliability and perfection in craftsmanship with firm roots in Germany. As the world’s leading manufacturer of small arms, we are the responsible and reliable partner for security forces, police and specialized forces of NATO and its associated countries.

As an internationally positioned group of companies based in (Baden-Württemberg, Germany town) Oberndorf am Neckar, we make a significant contribution to the protection of freedom and democracy worldwide with our subsidiaries in the USA, France and Great Britain.

“With our products, we contribute to securing freedom and democracy,” the page proclaims.

Heckler & Koch has made multiple weapons for the Navy Seals — a group of men who might enjoy the occasional sweetheart in a swimsuit. But a staffer running HK’s Twitter account applauded Miller Lite’s bikini-bashing.

Per Fox News, from the now-deleted official tweets:

“Wow — woke? Allow me to translate: Objectifying women was never a good marketing strategy. In the firearms industry, that was a prominent strategy up until recently. Many industries have done that (including beer corps). … As an actual woman typing this, I’ll use more words for you to comprehend: Using bunnies to sell products is trash marketing.”

The triggered employee admitted Miller Lite’s “virtue signaling ad” didn’t “make [her] want to drink their beer.” Nonetheless, she thought, “[A]t least they used actual women for it (presumably).”

Turning the metaphorical gun on her own industry, she bashed an “old marketing strategy of putting a pistol in a ‘bikini model’s’ hand for the sake of marketing and not even making sure she knows how to hold [it] properly.”

The tweets took shots at “gun bunnies” and “beer bunnies,” while advancing the evidently opposite idea of “supporting women.”

It was a curious cluster of claims. Where profits are concerned, it would appear that featuring women in bikinis has, historically, been an excellent marketing strategy. In fact, women in bikinis and other skin-baring garments have long been used to sell products to women; these include bikinis. Is it wrong for women in bikinis to sell beer to men, but fine for women in bikinis to sell bikinis to women so there’ll be more women in bikinis — allowing men to watch women in bikinis while drinking their beer?

Whatever the answer, the next day, Heckler & Koch revealed a colossal corporate change of heart. It deleted the tweets and seemed to suggest someone may have been fired. The brand posted, “The Road Forward,” along with a sign promising as follows:

HK doesn’t engage in identity politics. A policy was violated.

And, ominously:

Changes were made.

They certainly wasted no time in nipping it in the bud. Or, the Miller. And the backtracking brought praise. YouTube gun reviewer Military Arms Channel commented, “Quick course correction. I have a strong suspicion the marketing intern arguing with customers is now gainfully unemployed.” Popular gun YouTuber MrGunsNGear approved with a “Hang Loose” emoji. BlazeTV host and Turning Point USA contributor Lauren Chen called the reversal “a good start.”

Next up is an official apology, but it's a good start. https://t.co/mkgmzWlIoz

— Lauren Chen (@TheLaurenChen) May 18, 2023

Other responses:

• “I’d expect nothing less from the brand that will never compromise.
• “Finally, a company that understands the toxicity of engaging in identity politics.”
• “A fully-armed and bikini-clad apology would smooth things.”
• “Someone got fired!”
• “No, not good enough. Send me a free gun.”
• “I’m so sick of the PC crap… Folks have enough to deal with without having to worry about offending some thin-skin’s sensibilities.”
• “This almost does it. Need an ad with a good-looking woman in a bikini…with guns, and a beer…”
• “Nope, I’m still upset! I will be requiring a VP9 and an HK45 as reparations before my feelings are unhurt.”

One user retweeted her reaction to HK’s original anti-bikini post:

“[S]ome women are gun bunnies, and some women are beer bunnies, so support them.”

We’re living in an era of conflict. Unlike times past, companies are constantly inserting themselves into politics. Meanwhile, it’s the age of the backlash. Heckler & Koch may get that better than most. It looks to understand its base, along with the wisdom of staying out of social commentary. Perhaps a number of other companies would do well to watch and learn.

Beyond that, HK got reminded of something like a gun-safety lesson: Don’t point your tweet at anything — including your marketshare — that you aren’t willing to destroy.

-ALEX

See more content from me:

Anti-Woke Actress: Marvel Star Defends Macho Men Unafraid to ‘Punch Someone in the Face’

Sex Ed: State University Film Class Enjoys Instruction by Award-Winning Porn Star

City Council Member Urges That White Business Owners Be Forced to Pay ‘Black- and Brown-Owned’ Businesses

Find all my RedState work here.

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