‘Is This What Happens When You Date Taylor Swift?’: Conservatives Furious With Chiefs Star Travis Kelce for Starring in ‘Woke’ Ads for Bud Light, Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccines

Travis Kelce during a January Game. The Kansas City Chiefs athlete has faced ire from some Conservatives for endorsing Bud Light, Pfizer vaccines, and dating Taylor Swift. (Photo: AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce has flooded media headlines and social media channels this week, primarily for rumors of a romance with musical sensation Taylor Swift, and less so for his appearances in advertisements for Bud Light and Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccines. On Tuesday, Forbes reported the Kansas City Chiefs Tightend experienced backlash from Conservatives in the wake of his choices of partnerships — from both a branding and romantic standpoint.

Kelce starred in a Bud Light ad, titled “Backyard Grunts,” which aired in July and featured the athlete getting comfortable on a lawn chair, grunting and cracking open one of those cold blue cans. Reactions to the video seemed positive on Bud Light’s YouTube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HThEOBdJ-fU

“I dig it. Short, sweet and funny. Well done,” a user commented.

Sportskeeda reported on other social platforms, the reception was frosty at best.

Outraged Conservatives voiced their contempt for the ad on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Good another person to boycott,” posted one user.

An individual with the phrase “Alpha Male” listed after his name, asked if Kelce had “gone woke.”

It seems regardless of the brand’s best efforts to shy away from the Dylan Mulvaney controversy, those blue cans represent something else to the “anti-woke” crowd.

In August, Kid Rock faced the music, so to speak, after the MAGA-aligned rocker/rapper was seen drinking Bud Light a mere four months after filming a video of himself firing a rifle at a stack of Bud Light cases.

It appears Kelce’s choice to partner with the boycotted brand has led the forces behind America’s culture wars to shine a spotlight on the athlete, and the tight end’s recent choice to endorse the Pfizer vaccine fueled more outrage.

On Saturday, Kelce uploaded an Instagram post as part of a partnership with Pfizer. He endorsed the Pfizer vaccine with the hashtag #PfizerPartner and shared that busy individuals could get both their flu and COVID-19 vaccinations at the same time in the U.S. This drew outrage from Conservatives like Megyn Kelly and Charlie Kirk, who expressed their distaste for the athlete’s choice to endorse the COVID-19 vaccine.

In a YouTube video titled “NFL Superstar Travis Kelce Shilling for Pfizer and the New COVID Shot” with Charlie Kirk, Kelly claimed Kelce was using his “fame and power” to push the COVID-19 vaccine on Americans and teenage boys, whom they claimed were vulnerable to potential side effects of the vaccine.

“He just did it for money, obviously,” Kirk claimed

Kirk went on to claim it was disturbing that an “Alpha Male” like Kelce would have the audacity to “push” such a vaccine.

“Is this what happens when you date Taylor Swift?” conservative commentator Tomi Lahren quipped on X.

Alpha male or not, it appears the football player’s choices off the field have overshadowed the fact that he is one of the greatest tight ends of all time.

In heightened culture wars such as these, it appears no one wins.

Bud Light’s latest attempt to backpedal after the Dylan Mulvaney controversy took place in July, when the company laid off 400 people.

After the decision was made, Anheuser-Busch Chief Executive Brendan Whitworth sent a written statement to USA Today that read the following:

“These corporate structure changes will enable our teams to focus on what we do best — brewing great beer for everyone.”

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