The list of food brands that conservatives are refusing to purchase because they’re too LGBTQ+ got quite a bit longer this week after transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney had her picture taken with Tony the Tiger. Now many on the right are calling for a boycott of Kellogg’s, the cereal brand.
The offending picture took place at the Tony Awards this past Sunday. Mulvaney, in a Christian Siriano gown, almost walked into a person in a Tony the Tiger costume. Tony the Tiger is the mascot for the Kellogg’s breakfast cereal Frosted Flakes.
Mulvaney didn’t see Tony the Tiger standing behind her and appeared so surprised that she almost fell. Then she had her picture taken with the mascot.
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Mulvaney posted video to her Instagram account.
“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 strategist Joey Mannarino wrote on Twitter. “The Frosted Flakes mascot, Tony the Tiger, has just posed for a photo with Dylan Mulvaney and even acted like a fan.”
It’s not even clear that the person in the Tony the Tiger costume knew who Mulvaney was, but that didn’t matter to Mannarino. He said that the line in the sand is treating Mulvaney like a human being at all: “That’s always been my line. You associate with Dylan Mulvaney and you’re done with me.”
Mannarino said he starts his “mornings with either Froot Loops or Frosted Flakes” but now, “I refuse to engage with a brand that has the tr***y semen sweatshop in full effect.”
Substack writer @amusee just tweeted the new rightwing bumper sticker argument “Go woke, go broke” (that is, they believe they have enough market power to drive any brand supporting any minority group out of business).
Rightwing newspapers including the New York Post and the Washington Examiner published stories about the Mulvaney/Tiger picture.
“Is Kellogg’s next? Dylan Mulvaney goes blonde and poses with Tony the Tiger at the Tony Awards,” the Post’s headline read.
Black gay conservative activist Rob Smith said that the picture is proof that “they’re coming for your kids.”
Other conservatives on Twitter called for a boycott as well.
Related:
Ted Cruz opens probe into the Dylan Mulvaney Bud Light can
Cruz threatened Bud Light’s parent company with “a lengthy investigation” if it didn’t cut ties and apologize for its partnership with Mulvaney.
Conservatives have announced many boycotts of brands that have either had trans people in their advertisements, worked with drag queens, or supported LGBTQ+ Pride. Some have even been digging up old ad campaigns that ran years ago to find reasons to boycott companies.
Mulvaney herself appears to occupy a particular place of ire among the far right. Conservatives lost their minds in April when she did a 50-second Instagram video sponsored by Bud Light. People posted videos of themselves dumping out Bud Light beer, and Kid Rock shot up cases of Bud Light, while even Republican elected officials said they’d no longer purchase Bud Light.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) even accused Mulvaney of being a pedophile, even though there is no accusation of child sex abuse against Mulvaney or any reason to believe that she is a pedophile.
It’s not clear why the right hates Mulvaney so much more than even other transgender influencers.
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