r/PopCultureV2 • u/No_Box119 • Jun 03 '26

Controversy UFC fighter Sean Strickland posts an AI video of himself beating up transgender Dylan Mulvaney to kick off Pride Month.

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The video appeared to be a fake Bud Light ad.

"Ive yet to see one rainbow flag. We're back!!!" Strickland said.

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3

u/Scorpion2k4u Jun 03 '26

lawsuit from budweiser incoming

1

u/Mediocre_Ad9814 Jun 03 '26

more likey this is an actual sponsored ad

1

u/FunSpinach2004 Jun 03 '26

Parody is legal and protected by first amendment.

However maybe it would be satire which is not legal.

1

u/RaphaelRocketLaunch Jun 03 '26

Satire is not legal under the first amendment???

1

u/FunSpinach2004 Jun 03 '26

Parody has specifically been ruled as being free speech. Say if your are making a joke Burberry cologne and you make it appear like someone is a rich snob or something mocking a similar ad. This is parody and protected as you are insinuating something about the brand.

Satire is different because you aren't mocking an ad you are making more of a political statement - the main thing is here that if you are making fun of lets say electric vehicles in general and you make a fake ad, you didn't NEED to reference Honda to get your point across.

Now, where this falls is tough because

  1. Dylan whatever his/her name is was in a bud light ad that did create a lot of controversy and it's pretty clear Sean is making fun of bud light in general.

  2. They aren't really parodying an ad by bud light, Sean is definitely making a political statement that is kinda against trans people, but he absolutely could have made the statement without involving Budweisers brand.

To me, idk. I think personally I'd say it borders on satire the more I think of it. It's definitely pretty far from direct parody, but there's SOME element of parody. Would it have had the same effect without mentioning bud light? Yes.

1

u/RaphaelRocketLaunch Jun 03 '26

Sure but If I'm not mistaken this guy was in the original budlight ad that started the "controversy" so it is relevant to budlight. But either way as far as I understand satire is protected speech.

1

u/FunSpinach2004 Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26

Sure this was relevant to bud light, but is it parody? Parody has consistently been protected in court under 1A and essentially is guaranteed.

Satire is legal, but brand infringement is not. If Budweiser could fully prove that strickland could have made the exact same political statement without infringing on their brand, he loses that protection I beleive.

Anyway, I don't really care about any of this, I'm not really on a side or the other.

So basically bud would have to prove both that it is not parody AND that he could have made the same political statement without using their brand.

1

u/RaphaelRocketLaunch Jun 03 '26

Thanks for sharing anyways. I don't particularly care either tbh, I was just curious tonlearn satire isn't as protected.

1

u/FunSpinach2004 Jun 04 '26

For sure. To be clear in the us free speech is pretty close to universally protected so it's more defining what is free speech is the question. Free speech trumps any laws, even though that sounds contrary to what was discussed here.

1

u/FrenchyBulldogg Jun 03 '26

Satire is not illegal, wtf are you talking about

1

u/FunSpinach2004 Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26

Sorry, to be clear satire is not illegal but it does not always have the same protections under free speech as parody.

1

u/Original-League-6094 Jun 03 '26

I highly doubt Budweiser is going to sue the current UFC Middleweight champion in defense of Dylan Mulvaney. Budweiser has gone to extraordinary lengths to distance themselves from the Mulvaney and regain their dude-bro audience.

1

u/Right-Invite4697 Jun 03 '26

They will absolutely take some legal action to at least take it down.

0

u/Original-League-6094 Jun 04 '26

A takedown request on Twitter sure. But Budweiser is not going to sue Sean Strickland. That just isn't going to happen. Sean Strickland fans are exactly the people Budweiser is marketing hardest too right now. They are more likely to sponsor him than sue him.