The Dylan Mulvaney effect has struck again and this time, it’s not beer that’s getting flushed down the drain, it’s a whole outdoor retail empire.
Remember when Anheuser-Busch thought it was a brilliant idea to feature Dylan Mulvaney, a grown man playing dress-up as a teenage girl, in a Bud Light ad? That stunt cost them nearly 30% of their weekly sales by January 2024. And now, you’d think corporate marketers would have learned something from that nuclear-level backlash. But no. Apparently, common sense is still out of stock in some boardrooms.
Enter Kathmandu Holdings, better known as KMD Brands — the parent company of outdoor gear giants Kathmandu and Rip Curl. According to the Daily Mail, the company just posted an $82.9 million loss, its worst in a decade. The reason? Another self-inflicted wound, courtesy of identity politics and a bad case of Mulvaney-itis.
Rip Curl, for reasons only known to their DEI department, decided to feature so-called transgender surfer Sasha Lowerson — another man cosplaying as a woman — in an ad campaign to promote women’s surfing. The move sparked an immediate backlash, particularly in Australia, where many customers just said, “No thanks,” and took their wallets elsewhere.
To make matters worse, Rip Curl replaced legendary surfer Bethany Hamilton in the process. You know, the woman who lost her arm to a shark at age 13 and still became one of the most respected pro surfers in the world. She’s a mother, a wife, a Christian, and a fierce advocate for actual women in women’s sports. In other words, she represents everything brands should be celebrating.
Rip Curl – a famous surfing brand – have dropped Bethany Hamilton (who lost her arm in a shark attack) from their ad campaigns.
They have instead used Sasha Lowerson to advertise women’s surfing.
Their total contempt could not be more clear. pic.twitter.com/Gmc2n5aL0s— Jill Foster (@JournalistJill) January 26, 2024
Instead, Rip Curl swapped her out for a biological man. Not because he earned it. Not because of merit. But because the company wanted to check an “inclusion” box — and now they’re checking their balance sheets and finding a giant red hole.
KMD has since shuttered 21 stores. They’re writing down $40.3 million just from their Oboz hiking boot brand alone. And while the media keeps parroting that the boycott “wasn’t solely responsible,” it’s clear that consumers have had enough.
People don’t want to be lectured or lied to by their favorite brands. They don’t want mentally unstable men shoved into ad campaigns pretending to be women. They want reality — not rainbow-washed nonsense.
The Dylan Mulvaney effect is real. Get woke, go broke — again.
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