Bud Light's first Twitter post after Dylan Mulvaney controversy viewed 11.1m times, with 25k replies

As Bud Light continues to navigate the backlash against its partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, millions are flocking to its social media pages to view its content.

On Friday, after nearly two weeks of silence, the Bud Light Twitter account posted again. The brand tweeted out a frosty can of its classic brew and captioned it 'TGIF?'

Though the post garnered myriad negative comments relating to the controversial brand partnership with Mulvaney, it has so far amassed a whopping 11.1million views and 25,000 comments.

That massive figure becomes even more eye-popping as compared to the brand's most recent tweets, most of which fall far shy of the 1million mark.

Even a recent popular tweet from late last month promoting the brand's March Madness sweepstakes received just 1.2million views.

The brand returned to social media Friday to post for the first time since the eruption of controversy. The post garnered 11.1million views

Even a recent popular post of the brand's advertising its March Madness sweepstakes garnered a paltry 1.2million views compared to its more recent work

Despite the nature of the attention, Bud Light's partnership with Mulvaney seems to be paying dividends in terms of the amount of sheer exposure it has yielded for the brand. 

Brand reach is a primary tool used to measure the success of marketing campaigns. And by the figures alone, the Mulvaney partnership has likely smashed all expectations. 

Typically, however, that reach is not supposed to come with a $6billion market cap loss and hundreds of thousands if not millions of disgruntled customers. 

The disastrous fallout from the Mulvaney partnership prompted a lukewarm apology for the Anheuser-Busch CEO last week, but it remains unclear exactly what the next step for the struggling brand will be. 

Budweiser released a patriotic new ad featuring its iconic Clydesdale horse on Friday.

The one-minute commercial features shots of the animal galloping across Western landscapes and past landmarks including the Lincoln Memorial and the Brooklyn Bridge.

The ad for the beer - which like Bud Light is owned by Anheuser-Busch - appeared to be a return to traditional values for the brand which has historically appealed to blue-collar American workers. 

However, online users slammed the ad as a pathetic attempt to right the ship that was permanently sent in the wrong direction with the Mulvaney partnership. 

The iconic Clydesdales are shown galloping across iconic American settings

'My favorite advertisement by a mile was the Clydesdales after 9/11. It was absolute perfection. After your embrace of the trans agenda, glorifying a man looking for his 15 mins of fame by mocking women. I will never buy, drink or serve your beer again,' wrote one user.

'Is the horse trans now?' wrote radio host Dan O'Donnell. 

'Nope, you guys destroyed your own base and market because you had to go woke. I'll never drink any of your products again,' wrote Brandon Saario. 

'Lol, hard pivot huh?' wrote Angela McArdle, the chair of the Libertarian Party.

Commentator Philip Holloway wrote: 'Don't look now Anheuser Busch and Budweiser but the Clydesdale has already left the barn. The train has sailed, the ship has left the station.'

Bud Light and Budweiser are distinct brands housed under the same parent company. With the new ad, the latter - often called The King of Beers - appears to be stepping in to save the reputation of Bud Light. 

Mulvaney's April 1 Instagram post included her drinking a beer with her face printed on the can and lying in a bathtub knocking back Bud Light

In her controversial ad, Mulvaney posted a clip of herself sipping from a one-off, custom Bud Light can with her face on to promote its March Madness competition - and the backlash saw parent company Anheuser-Busch lose $6billion in market cap within six days.

Mulvaney became well known for the 'days of girlhood' videos, in which the 26-year-old documented the first year of identifying as a girl. 

But the TikTok star has angered some feminists and conservatives over claims she's 'play-acting' being a 'girl,' and co-opting parts of womanhood she finds interesting - without having to deal with the misogyny or prejudice many women face.