Anheuser-Busch, maker of Bud Light, said Tuesday that two of its executives took a vacation after the beer was featured in a social media promotion by a transgender influencer.
Bud Light’s sales are sluggish amid calls for a boycott. This is due to criticism of the company’s response to advertising and the backlash that included harassment targeting one of his vacationing executives.
Alissa Heinerscheid, Bud Light’s vice president of marketing, and Daniel Blake, who oversees marketing for Anheuser-Busch’s mainstream brands, are on vacation, the company said in a statement.
In a statement, Anheuser-Busch said, “We have made several adjustments to streamline the structure of our marketing function to reduce layers and ensure that our most senior marketers are more closely connected to all aspects of brand activity. I did,” he said. “These steps will help us stay focused on what we do best: brewing great beer for all our consumers, while always making a positive impact on our community and country.” to give.”
The company’s disruption came on April 1 when transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney posted a video on her Instagram account to promote the Bud Light March Madness Contest to her 1.8 million followers.
Within days, conservative celebrities and politicians called for a boycott of the brand. These calls were followed by opposing boycott or buycott calls, urging people to buy Bud Light to show their support for the marketing.
Brendan Whitworth, CEO of Anheuser-Busch InBev, said: indirectly addressed the controversy in a statement April 14th.
“I didn’t mean to get into an argument that would divide people,” he said. “We are in the business of bringing people together over beer.”
This did nothing to quell Bud Light’s criticism. grown Include complaints about the lukewarm response to the backlash, as well as targeted harassment of Ms. Heinerscheidt.
Critics of Mulvaney’s ads found a March podcast interview in which Heinerscheid said some of Bud Light’s previous ads had “crappy, slightly off-topic humor,” Said the company would need more. Inclusive for its demographic to grow. The podcast quote went viral, and The Daily Caller, The New York Post, and The Daily Mail published photos of Heinerscheidt at a party at the university in 2006.
Heinerscheid and Blake could not be reached for comment.
News of the executive’s vacation began circulating on Friday with reports about Mr. Heinersheld. beer business dailya trade magazine, and another Sunday Sunday publication about her boss, Mr. Blake. wall street journal.
The controversy had a negative impact on Bud Light’s sales, with sales dropping 17% in the week ending April 15, according to Beer Business Daily.
Harry Schumacher, The publisher of Beer Business Daily said sales of competitors Miller Lite and Coors Light nearly rose on a dollar-per-dollar basis as sales of Bud Light declined.
Schumacher said it’s a “terrible” situation for Bud Light in the short term, but the long-term business impact is likely to be minor as the brand was already in decline. It just steepens the decay curve,” he said.
He said the popularity of different beer brands tends to vary across generations, with Bud Light experiencing a slump in that cycle.
“It’s been going on since Prohibition was repealed,” he said. “And the brand cycles about every 20 to 30 years.”
He said the company may have a “silver lining” because the controversy has received so much media attention.
“It helps Bud Light because it’s in the zeitgeist. They didn’t really endorse it enough, but they seemed to take a stand.” ‘ said Schumacher. “They threw it away and hid it. I think this is a little unfair to Dylan and to the trans community.”
Criticism of Bud Light has led to Republican state legislators regulating the lives of young transgender people, restricting drag shows in ways that broadly encompass performances by transgender people, and schools criticizing transgender students for their parents. It arose when we were proposing a law that would require the introduction of
