Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., called for the Beer Institute to investigate Anheuser-Busch's marketing campaign that promoted transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
Cruz, ranking member on the Senate Commerce Committee, and Blackburn, ranking member of the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security, also opened an investigation into Bud Light campaign.
The two senators wrote Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth, who is also chairman of the Beer Institute, and urged him to open a probe into whether the company violated guidelines that prohibit beer companies from promoting their products to a younger audience.
The Beer Institute is the beer industry's self-regulatory body that establishes buying and advertising guidelines for beer companies.
The senators' letter to Whitworth specifically mentioned TikTok videos Mulvaney posted leading up to the Bud Light campaign.
Cruz and Blackburn allege that Mulvaney's TikTok series, "Days of Girlhood," targets an audience younger than the Beer Institute's guidelines.
"The use of the phrase 'Girlhood' was not a slip of the tongue but rather emblematic of a series of Mulvaney's online content that was specifically used to target, market to, and attract an audience of young people who are well below the legal drinking age in the United States," wrote Cruz and Blackburn, who also called on Anheuser-Busch to sever ties with Mulvaney.
Cruz and Blackburn also requested documents from Anheuser-Busch related to the partnership — including communications, scripts of social media content, solicitations for content — and the company's corporate policy for advertising on social media platforms.
"We believe that Anheuser-Busch's clear failure to exercise appropriate due diligence when selecting online influencers for its marketing efforts warrants detailed oversight by Congress," Cruz and Blackburn wrote.
On social media Thursday, Cruz said Anheuser-Busch "needs to answer questions" about the marketing campaign with Mulvaney.
"Dylan Mulvaney's content is directed at a younger audience — he bought Barbie dolls and roleplayed as a 6-year-old named Eloise. Bud Light is an adult beverage. Anheuser-Busch needs to answer our questions about their partnership with Mulvaney," Cruz tweeted.
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