但一家成功的“反觉醒”替代品牌的顾客后来发现，自己的钱包变薄了——却一无所获。
But customers of one successful anti-woke alternative brand later found their own wallets a bit lighter—with nothing to show for it.
2023年4月，正值右翼因一条赞助Instagram帖子而大发雷霆之际，该帖子中跨性别女演员兼歌手迪伦·马尔维尼展示了一罐印有她头像的百威淡啤。一名叫塞斯·韦瑟斯的佐治亚州男子嗅到了捞一笔的商机。保守派誓言抛弃百威品牌，另觅商家。（甚至有位泪流满面的基德·洛克拍下自己用半自动步枪打烂几箱啤酒的视频。）这是一个愤怒的政治群体，急需一款新的低酒精度拉格啤酒。
In April 2023, at the height of a right-wing freakout over a sponsored Instagram post in which transgender actress and singer Dylan Mulvaney showed off a can of Bud Light with her face on it, a Georgia man named Seth Weathers smelled an opportunity to cash in. Conservatives were vowing to ditch the Budweiser brand and take their business elsewhere. (A tearful Kid Rock even filmed himself shooting up a few cases with a semiautomatic rifle.) It was an angry political demographic in need of a new low-ABV lager.
韦瑟斯是一名政治顾问，曾于2015年短暂担任唐纳德·特朗普总统竞选活动的佐治亚州州级总监，后来与一位因种族主义Facebook帖子而出名的县专员共事。他趁机推销一种替代饮料。在他的社交品牌“保守派老爸”旗下，他向因跨性别包容问题而大吵大闹的“让美国再次伟大”选民推销一款名为“极右啤酒”的啤酒。
Weathers, a political consultant who briefly served as Georgia state director for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in 2015 and went on to work with a county commissioner known for racist Facebook posts, swooped in to pitch a replacement beverage. Under his social brand “Conservative Dad,” he marketed a brew called Ultra Right Beer to the MAGA voters making a stink about trans inclusivity.
“美国人一直在喝一家连该用哪个洗手间都搞不清的公司生产的啤酒，”韦瑟斯在一段YouTube广告中说，广告中插入了穆尔瓦尼抿饮百威淡啤的片段。“这就是我创立‘保守派老爸超级右派 100% 无觉醒啤酒’的原因。”广告画面显示，韦瑟斯将一罐百威淡啤放在发球台上，用棒球棒狠狠砸碎。“别再把钱给那些仇视我们价值观的‘觉醒’企业了，”他说，并警告这些公司“滚得远远的，别碰我们的孩子”。
“America’s been drinking beer from a company that doesn’t even know what restroom to use,” Weathers said in a YouTube ad that included a clip of Mulvaney sipping Bud Light. “That’s why I created Conservative Dad’s Ultra Right 100 percent woke-free beer.”The commercial shows Weathers teeing up a can of Bud Light and walloping it with a baseball bat. “Stop giving money to woke corporations that hate our values,” he said, warning such companies to “stay the fuck away from our kids.”
这一概念在右翼媒体引起轰动，大批读者和观众涌入“超级右派啤酒”网站下单——尽管韦瑟斯当时尚未找到酿酒厂生产这种酒。（他还面临着将这款假想啤酒发货的物流障碍，这一过程受到严格监管，且各州法规各不相同。）两周内，韦瑟斯与位于佐治亚州劳伦斯维尔的“大壶酿酒”达成合作生产啤酒，并声称销售额逼近 100 万美元，每六罐装售价 19.99 美元。
The concept made a splash in right-wing media, which sent droves of readers and viewers to the Ultra Right Beer website to place orders—even though Weathers had yet to find a brewery to make the stuff. (He was also facing logistical hurdles to shipping the hypothetical beer, a process subject to heavy regulations that vary from one state to the next.) Within two weeks, Weathers had partnered with Big Kettle Brewing in Lawrenceville, Georgia, to produce the beer, and claimed he was closing in on $1 million in sales of six-packs priced at $19.99 apiece.
但尽管福克斯新闻等媒体持续吹捧“超级右派”是对百威淡啤酿造商百威英博的惊人胜利，发货却迟迟未能兑现。韦瑟斯的公司“超级右派啤酒有限责任公司”最终从 Better Business Bureau（BBB，商业改进局）获得“F”级评级，该机构指出，该公司未回应近 200 起关于六罐装啤酒未送达以及客户服务几乎不存在的投诉。
But while Fox News and similar outlets continued to tout Ultra Right as a stunning victory over Budweiser’s brewer, Anheuser-Busch, deliveries were slow to materialize. Weathers’ company, Ultra Right Beer LLC, would eventually receive an “F” rating from the Better Business Bureau, which notes that it has failed to respond to nearly 200 complaints over missing six-packs and virtually nonexistent customer service.
一位在 BBB 网站给“超级右派”打一星评价的作者抱怨称，印有特朗普嫌疑人照片的特别版“复仇”罐装啤酒花了年半才送达，而印有特朗普在 2024 年 7 月竞选集会遭遇刺杀未遂后举拳照片的“战斗”主题六罐装则根本没收到。
The author of a one-star review of Ultra Right on the BBB website griped that its special edition “Revenge” cans of beer with Trump’s mugshot on them took a year and a half to arrive, while a “Fight”-themed six-pack (styled with the image of Trump raising his fist after surviving an assassination attempt at a July 2024 campaign rally) never arrived at all.
Weathers 于 2024 年 8 月声称，特别版 Fight 啤酒的销售额已达到 100 万美元。目前不清楚 Fight 啤酒最终发出了多少订单。在 eBay 上，转售商将空的六罐装包装盒标价高达 115 美元。
Weathers claimed in August 2024 that sales of the special edition Fight beer had reached the $1 million mark. It’s not clear how many orders of Fight beer ultimately shipped. On eBay, resellers have listed empty six-packs for as much as $115.
两年后，一个名为“People Still Waiting for Ultra Right Fight Beer”（仍在等待 Ultra Right Fight 啤酒的人们）的 Facebook 群组拥有约 400 名成员，许多人声称他们在 2024 年下单后，既未收到限量版啤酒，也未获得退款。“我不再想要啤酒……只想要回我的钱！”群组近期的一条帖子写道。
Two years later, around 400 people are members of a Facebook group called “People Still Waiting for Ultra Right Fight Beer,” with many claiming that they have received neither the limited-edition beer nor a refund after placing orders in 2024. “I no longer want the beer … just my money back!” reads a recent post on the page.
已有足够多的客户联系佐治亚州检察长 Chris Carr，举报 Ultra Right Beer LLC，该办公室已对该公司展开调查，根据法庭文件，该公司对合规令置之不理。作为合同酿造商运营 Big Kettle Brewing 的 Ironshield Brewing 宣布于 2023 年 12 月关闭。Weathers 未回复置评请求，且自去年底以来未在其 Facebook 或 Instagram 页面发布内容。
Enough of these customers have contacted Georgia attorney general Chris Carr to report on Ultra Right Beer LLC that the office has opened an investigation into the company, which has been unresponsive to compliance orders, according to court filings. Ironshield Brewing, the company that operated Big Kettle Brewing as a contract brewer, announced that it was shutting down in December 2023. Weathers did not respond to a request for comment and hasn’t posted to his Facebook or Instagram pages since late last year.
Weathers 处于休眠状态的社交媒体页面下的许多评论，都是要求退款或询问啤酒订单进度的。针对一位 Facebook 评论者写道 Weathers 于 11 月宣布 Ultra Right 补货是“纯粹胡扯”并称他是“小偷”，Weathers 回复道：“我们不想要你作为客户”，并补充说他已为该人退款。“我无法想象，一个人活到你这把年纪，却要花时间骚扰那些犯了错但正在为你所谓信仰的事业而战的小企业，该有多么悲惨，”他写道。
Many of the comments on Weathers’ dormant social media pages are from people demanding refunds or updates on beer orders. In response to a Facebook commenter who wrote that Weathers’ announcement of an Ultra Right restock in November was “plain bullshit” and called him a “thief,” Weathers wrote, “We do not want you as a customer,” adding that he had refunded the person’s order. “I cannot imagine how miserable someone must be to reach your age in life, to spend your time harassing small businesses who have made mistakes but is [sic] out here fighting for the causes you supposedly believe in,” he wrote.
新泽西州警察里奇·艾伦（Rich Alan）花了60多美元买了两箱Fight啤酒，却说从未收到，他声称韦瑟斯（Weathers）是个“骗子”和“骗局”，利用特朗普支持者。艾伦扮演的“保守派爸爸”角色说，韦瑟斯“正在偷走这些爱国者的心，让你觉得你基本上就是他们中的一员。就像，‘嘿，我和你们一样，我正在反对觉醒的百威淡啤酒。’然后就拿着他们的钱跑了。”
Rich Alan, a police officer in New Jersey who spent more than $60 on two sixers of Fight beer that he says he never got, claims Weathers is a “fraud” and “scammer” who took advantage of Trump supporters. As his Conservative Dad character, Alan says, Weathers was “ stealing the hearts of these patriots and making you think that you're like you're one of them, basically. Like, ‘Hey, I'm just like you, I'm standing up to woke Bud Light.’ And then just taking their money and running with it.”
俄勒冈州交通部雇员保罗·罗伯茨（Paul Roberts）分享了一张2024年9月的收据，显示他购买了三箱Ultra Right Fight啤酒，共计91.36美元，他说一直想了解订单进展，但毫无结果。“发了很多邮件，回复了短信，还在他们的Facebook页面上留言，”他说，还拨打了列出的电话。“没有回复。”
Paul Roberts, an employee of the Oregon department of transportation who shared a September 2024 receipt for three six-packs of Ultra Right Fight beer totaling $91.36, says he has tried in vain to get an update on the order. “Sent many emails, replies to texts, and on their Facebook page,” he says, and called a listed number as well. “No response.”
罗伯茨和艾伦都告诉《连线》（WIRED）杂志，他们购买啤酒只是作为收藏品，并无意真正饮用。他们还表示，订单并非出于对百威淡啤酒的抵制。“我不在乎人们喝什么，”艾伦说。“你喝百威淡啤酒，你就喝百威淡啤酒。”罗伯茨此前购买了印有特朗普警告照的“复仇”啤酒，该啤酒确实送到了，但他说配送很慢。“那张警告照被用于负面报道，所以我觉得把它印在啤酒罐上很酷，很有收藏价值。”
Both Roberts and Alan tell WIRED they only purchased the beers as collectible items and had no plans to actually drink them. They also say that their orders were not motivated by the Bud Light boycott. “I don't care what people drink,” Alan says. “You drink Bud Light, you drink Bud Light.”Roberts had previously bought the Revenge beer with Trump’s mugshot on it, which did arrive, although he says delivery was slow. “The mugshot had been used in a negative light, so I thought it was cool and collectible that they placed it on a beer can.”
艾伦指出，随着韦瑟斯在履行订单方面遇到困难，他将责任归咎于与安海斯-布希公司的法律纠纷。该公司于2024年对Ultra Right Beer LLC提出商标异议，理由是其与自家米其林超淡啤酒相似。韦瑟斯称这是“企业恐吓”行为。该诉讼仍在进行中。
Alan notes that as Weathers began running into difficulties with catching up on orders, he blamed these on legal wrangling with Anheuser-Busch. The company filed trademark opposition against Ultra Right Beer LLC in 2024, citing similarities to its own Michelob Ultra beer. Weathers called it an attempt at “corporate intimidation.”That litigation remains ongoing.
虽然艾伦和罗伯茨已不指望追回钱款，但他们希望以某种方式伸张正义。“我希望州政府执行适用于那种收了钱却不提供产品或服务的企业的任何法律，”罗伯茨说。艾伦补充道，凭借他作为执法人员的经验，他习惯看到人们因小诈骗而逍遥法外。“追究责任会很好，无论是查封资产、查封他所有财产，还是判处监禁，”他说。
While Alan and Roberts have given up hope of getting their money back, they’d like to see justice served in some way or another. “I would like the state to enforce whatever laws apply to a business that takes your money and doesn't provide the product or service,” Roberts says. Alan adds that in his experience as a law enforcement officer, he’s used to seeing people get away with petty scams. “Accountability would be nice, whether it's seizing assets or seizing everything he has, some jail time,” he says.
“总有一天我想跟他碰面，”艾伦谈到韦瑟斯时说。“我相信很多人都想。”
“I'd like to cross paths with him one day,” Alan says of Weathers. “I'm sure a lot of people would.”