Destruction of beer was in Mexico, not related to Bud Light’s Dylan Mulvaney partnership

A months-old video from Mexico of a steamroller plowing over crates of beer is recirculating on social media as if the destruction is related to a recent uproar over Bud Light’s partnership with a transgender social media star. 

"The American people will no longer be drinking crappy beer," read the caption next to a video shared on Instagram April 11. The video shows a steamroller destroying dozens of crates, sending suds flowing onto the pavement. 

Hashtags in the caption include #budlight #budweiser #dylanmulvaney #trans #transgender and #woke. 

The post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

But the post, which followed outcry about Bud Light’s NCAA college basketball tournament partnership with transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney, is misleading.

This steamroller video was filmed in Mexico in February and had nothing to do with the Mulvaney controversy.

Armando Nieblas, a Mexican journalist, first shared the video Feb. 28 on Twitter saying it showed the Mexican government destroying 85,000 cans of beer.

It wasn’t until April 1 that Mulvaney announced a Bud Light contest on Instagram,  and showed viewers a commemorative Bud Light can with her face on it that she said was sent to her by Anheuser-Busch to help celebrate her 365 days of womanhood. Mulvaney is known for documenting her gender transition on TikTok. 

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Says linguist Noam Chomsky died, as of June 18, 2024.

The can is not for sale to the public, the company told Vox.

A resulting backlash on social media included threats to boycott Bud Light and claims that were debunked about the Anheuser-Busch CEO resigning. 

Nieblas tweeted April 10 that the video shows the Mexican government destroying the beer and that it’s now being used as part of a disinformation campaign.

A February article from the website Border Report said about 87,000 cans of beer confiscated at the Baja California-California border during the COVID-19 pandemic were destroyed by the Mexican government. Nieblas’ tweet sharing the video is embedded in the article.

Domestic beer production was halted in Mexico during the pandemic and people were trying to bring in beer from the U.S., which is prohibited without a permit, the article said.

While Bud Light labels can be seen on some of the beer being steamrolled in the video, cases of Michelob Ultra beer are also visible.

We rate the claim that a video shows a steamroller destroying Bud Light cases in relation to Anheuser-Busch’s partnership with a trans person False.