Kellogg’s has become the latest company to face conservative boycott calls after transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney was photographed posing and linking arms with the brand’s iconic “Tony the Tiger” mascot at an awards ceremony.
Mulvaney, a male who identifies as female, shared a video on Instagram of him interacting with and posing for photos with the Frosted Flakes mascot during the Tony Awards on June 11.
“Watch tonight for a wildly camp moment,” Mulvaney wrote in the caption, noting that his trip to the Tony Awards involved some type of partnership with Facebook parent Meta.
The post, which showed Tony the Tiger and gala dress-wearing Mulvaney clinging to the mascot’s arm, garnered considerable attention online.
Many of the reactions were critical and along the lines of the “go woke, go broke” rallying cry of those who oppose corporations pushing left-wing agendas.
“Folks, we have a new boycott to add to the list and I’m truly sorry to say it because I love this brand,” conservative political strategist Joey Mannarino said in a post on Twitter.
“The Frosted Flakes mascot, Tony the Tiger, has just posed for a photo with Dylan Mulvaney and even acted like a fan. That’s always been my line. You associate with Dylan Mulvaney and you’re done with me,” he continued.
“I’ll be dumping out my Frosted Flakes,” he added.
Conservative media personality Rob Smith took to Twitter to voice his outrage over Mulvaney being linked with the Frosted Flakes mascot.
“Yes, they’re coming for your kids,” he said.
Kellogg’s did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the boycott calls.
Kellogg’s ‘Together With Pride’
The Kellogg Company has in the past pushed progressive causes, in some cases sparking controversy.
In 2021, it partnered with the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) on a campaign ahead of “Pride Month” that involved the release of a limited edition LGBT-themed cereal dubbed “Together With Pride.”
“Together With Pride cereal marks the latest chapter in a years long partnership with GLAAD,” Doug VanDeVelde, General Manager of Kellogg U.S. Cereal Category, said in a statement.
“Our delicious new recipe features berry-flavored, rainbow hearts dusted with edible glitter. We can’t wait for fans to try our latest limited run,” VanDeVelde added.
The campaign wasn’t confined to just Pride Month alone, with Kellogg creating animated stickers on Instagram and Facebook that the company said would allow fans to “add a little ‘Pride’ to their posts all year long.”
GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis lavished praise on Kellogg for the campaign and its broader pro-LGBT attitude.
“Kellogg is not only building on an ongoing commitment to support the LGBTQ+ community, but initiatives that spotlight the importance of using correct pronouns to create safe and welcoming spaces for trans and nonbinary people,” Ellis said in a statement.
Much like with the latest apparent Tony the Tiger-Dylan Mulvaney collaboration, that campaign was met with a sharply critical response by those on the right.
The American Family Association (AFA), a conservative advocacy group, launched a petition in opposition to Kellogg’s “Together With Pride” campaign and urged people to “consider an alternative product.”
“The most disturbing feature is the box top that has a special spot for children to add their own pronouns of choice which encourages children to pick their pronouns,” the group said in a statement.
“For every ‘gay-branded’ box sold, Kellogg is donating $3 in support of GLAAD’s dangerous agenda to promote the unhealthy LGBTQ+ lifestyle among our youth,” it added.
A recent poll showed overwhelming support for the “go woke, go broke” sentiment, which is rooted in the idea that companies strongly pushing left-leaning causes should expect to face consumer backlash, such as boycotts.
The survey, carried out in late May by Redfield & Wilton Strategies, found that 63 percent of American adults who had heard the phrase “go woke, go broke” supported that sentiment.
The phrase has become a battle cry for people outraged at recent marketing moves by companies like Bud Light and Target, which have taken hits to their bottom lines for aligning with left-leaning causes.
Bud Light and Target Take Hit
Since Bud Light embarked on a marketing partnership with Mulvaney in early April, its parent company Anheuser-Busch has seen its market value plunge by billions of dollars.
“This month, I celebrated my day 365 of womanhood and Bud Light sent me possibly the best gift ever—a can with my face on it,” Mulvaney said on April Fool’s Day while showing off a limited edition Bud Light can—and triggering conservative calls for boycotts.
Singer Kid Rock used Bud Light cans as target practice to express his anger at the promotional campaign, while Florida governor Ron DeSantis said he would be boycotting Bud Light.
Former President Donald Trump also weighed in on the controversy, suggesting boycotts can be an effective way to send a message to brands who critics say are pushing a leftist agenda.
“It’s time to beat the Radical Left at their own game,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social earlier in May. “Money does talk—Anheuser-Busch now understands that.”
Between April 1 and June 12, the market cap of Anheuser-Busch dropped from around $132.4 billion to $109.6 billion amid backlash to the Bud Light-Mulvaney collaboration. That’s a drop of around $22.8 billion.
Target has also taken a financial hit amid boycott calls over the company’s decision to sell LGBT-themed items and clothing, including onesies for children and books instructing kids about the use of transgender pronouns.
“If you start to get too distant or too far away from the primary mandate, the market has proven itself to really, really punish you,” venture capitalist and “Shark Tank” television personality Kevin O’Leary said in a recent interview, commenting on Target’s stock price plunge and the LGBT-themed clothing controversy.
At the beginning of May, before the company rolled out its Pride collection, Target’s market cap was around $73 billion. By June 12, the company’s market valuation had fallen to around $58.4 billion, a difference of around $14.6 billion.
Several other companies, including PetSmart, Chick-fil-A, and Walmart, have also faced boycott calls due to their embrace of leftist agendas.
Some experts say that a significant factor encouraging brand promotion of transgender ideologies is an attempt to score points on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards.
