Satirical post falsely claims Oktoberfest banned Budweiser
CLAIM: Oktoberfest in Germany banned Budweiser brands.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The claim stems from a satirical website that includes a disclaimer that everything it publishes “is fiction.” No such announcement has been made by either Oktoberfest or Budweiser, and the festival only allows beer from Munich breweries.
THE FACTS: Claims that the prominent beer brand was banned from Oktoberfest, Munich’s world-famous annual beer festival, are spreading widely on social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook and TikTok, with many users sharing a blog post as evidence.
“Budweiser Brands Won’t Be Welcome at Oktoberfest For The 1st Time in 75 Years,” one user wrote Sunday on Twitter, repeating the blog post’s headline. The tweet was shared more than 6,000 times.
The blog post itself suggests that the ban was due to recent backlash from conservatives over Bud Light’s partnership with Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender social media influencer. Both Bud Light and Budweiser are owned by Anheuser-Busch.
But the claim is fabricated. The website is a subsidiary of America’s Last Line of Defense, a network of websites that publish satirical content that is often mistaken as real. The website’s about page states: “Everything on this website is fiction. It is not a lie and it is not fake news because it is not real.”
Other elements of the post also point to it being a parody: For instance, the post falsely claims that the legal drinking age in Bavaria is 9, but the legal age for buying beer in Germany is 16. The post also claims that Oktoberfest is held in a town called “Okto,” when it actually takes place in Munich. The post’s author is listed as “Flagg Eagleton.”
Additionally, only beer from Munich breweries is served at Oktoberfest, according to the event’s website.
The Associated Press has previously reported on other false claims from the same network of satirical sites, such as a fabricated legal settlement between Kyle Rittenhouse and “The View.”
The AP has also debunked misinformation concerning Bud Light’s partnership with Mulvaney, including a fake Bud Light billboard, and false claims that Anheuser Busch’s CEO had resigned over the ad.
Mulvaney, who is known for her popular series on TikTok documenting her gender transition, first posted a sponsored Instagram reel promoting Bud Light in early April. The video was met with transphobic commentary from conservative social media personalities, who attacked the company for supposedly turning to “woke” advertising and threatened to boycott the brand. According to news reports over the weekend, the marketing executive who oversaw the partnership is taking a leave of absence.
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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.