Has there ever been a category of consumer more gleefully eager to be fleeced or taken advantage of than the modern, right-wing, daily Fox News viewer? It’s not just that they can’t wait to trip over themselves in a mad dash to find their wallet every time they’re shilled “patriotic” pillows, or commemorative plates, or poorly struck coins with Donald Trump’s face on them–that would only be garden variety gullibility. It’s the way they race to social media to share with the world how they were conned that really takes this grift to the next level, inspiring other right-wing hucksters to get in on the easy money being made. I can only imagine this is how “Conservative Dad’s Ultra Right Beer” must have been conceived a week or two ago.
Granted, it’s hard to say with total certainty that Ultra Right Beer isn’t simply a clever bit of precisely on-the-nose satire, because if you saw the commercial below with no other context, surely you’d assume it was a piece of sarcastic comedy from a late night TV talk show. All the elements are there–the blindingly white, Steven Crowder-looking pitchman, the wanton destruction of Bud Light cans purchased moments earlier as a form of political protest, the American jingoism leading directly into a sales pitch. It absolutely feels like a joke, but UltraRightBeer.com and its web store certainly appear to be entirely real. As is the $35 price of buying a single six pack online.
So, who is this guy? His name is Seth Weathers, a far-right Twitter troll and grifter whose profile proclaims him as the CEO of “Freedom Speaks Up” and founder of “conservativebody.com”. He says he’s “on a mission to help conservatives unlearn the Gov lies about food, lose weight, & get in shape!” And naturally he’s also selling Ultra Right Beer, as doctors everywhere are known for their agreement that nothing helps one lose weight and get in shape quite like beer. Oh, and he also claimed on Twitter EARLIER THIS MONTH that beer “increases estrogen and decreases testosterone,” so he doesn’t even believe men should be drinking beer in the first place.
Less than two weeks ago, the ULTRA RIGHT BEER guy was on Twitter saying that “beer increases estrogen and decreases testosterone.”
11 days later, he’s selling beer to MAGA idiots. That has got to be one of the fastest grifting operations to ever get off the ground. #beertwitter https://t.co/rAWJuv8c3j
— James Vorel (@JimVorel) April 13, 2023
So why is he now selling Ultra Right Beer, and why is this specific moment ripe for a grifter to do so? Well, it’s all thanks to AB InBev’s attempt to gain some brownie points in the trans community via a partnership with transwoman and Broadway actor Dylan Mulvaney, who documented her transition in a widely viewed TikTok series called “Days of Girlhood.” In celebration of Mulvaney’s 365th “Day of Girlhood,” the Bud Light brand sent her a special, custom can emblazoned with her face, and she was subsequently hired to promote the brand across social media to her millions of followers. In other words, it was pretty standard Big Beer pandering to a segment where it wants to expand its sales.
Right-wing political pundits, sensing some faux outrage they could churn up into an ever-profitable maelstrom of hate, jumped all over the story, proclaiming Bud Light and AB InBev as “woke corporations,” kicking off a media frenzy. Consumer boycotts of Bud Light, etc. were declared, with those aggrieved right wing customers of course being unaware that they were now boycotting a company that routinely donates to anti-trans politicians and activists. But what else would one expect from the same folks who once destroyed their Keurigs because Sean Hannity told them to do it, or burned their Nike sneakers because of Colin Kaepernick? Buying expensive things to then destroy them and “own the libs” is what these folks do best. This time around, it’s just a beer brand that has briefly caught the Eye of Sauron, inducing the likes of Kid Rock to create videos destroying Bud Light cans … that they paid for, probably an hour earlier.
But beyond all that, what is the Ultra Right Beer, exactly? Given that it’s being presented as an alternative to Bud Light, one would naturally assume that it’s some kind of similar adjunct lager, but … wait, the website refers to it as an “airy special golden ale blend”? What in the fuck do any of those words mean in this context? How is the beer “airy,” exactly? What makes it “special,” beyond the outrageous price? Is it actually a “blend” of multiple beers, or do they even know what “blend” means? Hilariously, it’s only 4% ABV, even weaker and more watery than the Bud Light it’s mocking for being soft and woke.
Moreover, who is even making this beer? That factoid seems to be entirely unknown at the moment, with only some vague reports that it’s being produced in “Northern Illinois,” despite the fact that Seth Weathers is based in Georgia. Hell, the beer doesn’t even appear to physically exist and be ready for consumption at the moment, with the order page saying the beer “is currently in production and will ship on approximately 5/11/23.”
Truly, this is a next-level grift that Weathers has going here. He’s striking while the iron is hot and the outrage is flowing strongest, to capitalize on a right-wing blowback against Bud Light, selling pre-sales of a contract-brewed beer that won’t be shipping for at least a month, and selling that mystery beer for roughly $35 per six pack after shipping. All while simultaneously operating a conservative fitness program that helps people lose weight and be healthy, and saying that men shouldn’t drink beer because it makes them less masculine. Never let it be said that the right wing grifting machine is running out of ideas or capacity for hypocrisy, folks.
If Ultra Right Beer ever actually gets produced, and doesn’t get shut down in the next month by cease-and-desists from AB InBev thanks to its not-subtle use of the word “Ultra,” we hope to hear some reviews from customers who wanted to spend $7.50 per can on an “airy special golden ale blend.” Here’s hoping that it lives up to their no doubt exacting standards.
A final bonus: I love that when you move to order a six-pack of Ultra Right Beer, the site automatically prompts you to spend an additional $25.49 on a tee shirt. They’re even available in “extra small,” which is surely a garment that will move a lot of units among the Ultra Right Beer fandom.
Jim Vorel is a Paste staff writer and resident beer and liquor geek. You can follow him on Twitter for more drink writing.